The Fallen Series
by Tonya
Summary: UPDATED! Chapter 10 (finally): The battle begins and no one is safe.
1. Going Under

Series Title: The Fallen Series  
Chapter Title: Going Under  
Author: Tonya (tigerlily1998hotmail.com)  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: No own. No sue. All characters belong to the much more talented JK Rowling.  
Pairings: None at the moment  
Feedback: Yes please! I'm still feeling my way in this fandom!  
Summary: It's the beginning of Harry's sixth year, and it's time to come to grips with everything ahead of him and everything behind him.  
Dedication: Thanks to my pal Shirley for the inspiration and the read-through.  
A/N: This entire series will based solely on Evanescene's "Fallen" CD hence the title. Any new spells I use in the series are simply words and phrases taken from Latin.

* * *

"So go on and scream  
Scream at me, I'm so far away  
I won't be broken again  
I've got to breathe  
I can't keep going under"  
-- "Going Under" by Evanescence

* * *

Harry awoke to the sounds of voices and bustling beneath him. He unburied his head from his sheets and squinted over at the window where the sun's rays warmed the floor. A blind hand reached out for his glasses, nearly knocking them off the nightstand in the process. The bustling continued as Harry turned onto his back, adjusting his glasses and staring up at the slanted ceiling.

He probably missed breakfast. Possibly even lunch.

It had become routine for him to sleep through the day and not care about the warm meals he was missing in order to stay balled up under his sheets. At the beginning of his week at the Burrow, they had all tried to convince him to come down for breakfast, to simply leave the cocoon he had made for himself for a few hours. And for each of their efforts, they were met with a noncommittal response.

By the third day, they had given up and let him be, and for that he was glad.

He never in a million years would have thought he'd live to see the day when he would miss Little Whinging and his room at Number Four Privet Drive.

All summer, Harry had been left to his own devices. Apparently, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had taken to heart the warnings from Mad Eye Moody at the end of the last term and had treated Harry the best that he could remember. Of course, the better treatment simply meant ignoring him more, but it was better than the past years of irate curses thrown in his direction by his purple-faced uncle.

He hadn't minded being ignored this summer because it meant that he could be alone. There was no one to ask him how he was holding up. There was no one to give him that "poor bloke" look he'd grown to hate. There was no one to remind him of everything he wanted to forget at the moment.

The sound of the bedroom door slowly opening pulled Harry from his thoughts. He inhaled deeply but didn't tear his eyes from the ceiling.

"You awake, mate?"

Harry glanced over at his friend, who lingered uncomfortably by the door, as if at any moment Harry would yell at him to leave. Harry frowned slightly, Ron's body language causing a painful twist of his insides.

"What time is it?" he finally asked.

"A little after four," Ron said, returning the frown.

Harry closed his eyes with a sigh and gently rubbed his scar. Even with the amount of time he had been spending in bed lately, four in the afternoon was late even for him.

"We went to Diagon Alley," Ron continued, still lingering by the door. Harry opened his eyes at this, and he saw Ron shift uncomfortably. "Mum said not to bother you. She went ahead and got your things with ours."

"She didn't have to," Harry mumbled, feeling bad about having Mrs. Weasley purchase his things.

"You plan to study without books then?" Ron teased quietly.

"I'll pay her back for the books," Harry stated, running a hand through his unruly hair.

Ron nodded. "She said you'd say that. She also said not to worry about it."

Harry simply nodded and turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

Unsettling silence enveloped the room before Ron spoke again. "Mum left a sandwich downstairs for you if you're hungry."

Harry frowned at the ceiling. "Thanks, Ron, but maybe later. I'm not hungry," he said even as his grumbling stomach argued otherwise.

"Okay," Ron replied, studying him sadly. "We're gonna go out and play a round of Quidditch if you want to join."

"Maybe later," he said quietly.

"'Kay."

There was a moment when silence engulfed the room again, and Harry was certain he'd hear Ron make another offer to get him out of his bed. But instead, he heard only the sound of his best friend slowly leaving and closing the door, shutting Harry back into his self-made solitude.

Harry scowled at the ceiling once more before turning back onto his side, his back to the door. He knew that Ron was only trying to help in his own way and he hated being so aloof with him, but Harry just didn't have it in him. He just wasn't ready to face any of his friends because facing them meant coming to terms with the end of last term, coming to terms with Sirius's death and his role in it.

Harry pulled the covers up over his head, returning to his cocoon of denial.

* * *

Harry settled into the empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express, hoping to avoid all the curious stares of his fellow students. Unlike last year when he had felt disheartened at his best friends having to leave him for their first Prefect meeting of the term, this year, he welcomed the alone time. The alone time, however, did not last long as Ginny and Luna entered the compartment.

Ginny, her much longer hair pulled back into a French braid, entered first. She talked rapidly to Luna, who followed behind the redhead in a more serene manner. Luna laughed loudly at some joke Harry had missed, clasping a hand over her mouth to quiet her mirth. Ginny grinned in response as she sat down across from Harry and Luna took a seat beside him.

Ginny's grin faded as she met Harry's eyes. "Hey." She motioned to Luna as she continued, "I was just telling Luna how I knocked Ron off his broom when we were playing Quidditch the other day."

Harry nodded at that, offering Ginny the best smile he could muster.

"Hello, Harry," Luna said as if she just realized she had taken a seat beside him.

He glanced at her. "Um hi, Luna."

"How was your summer?" she asked casually as she pulled the recent edition of the Quibbler from her small knapsack.

From the corner of his eye, Harry could see Ginny give a small shake of her head to Luna. In response, Luna gave her friend a curious look before turning her full attention back to him.

It was--" Harry paused, trying to think of the right word.

Horrid. Excruciating. Bloody painful.

"--okay," he finished with a slight nod.

Luna stared at him, and for a second, Harry felt that she had seen right through his lie and was about to call him on it.

Luckily for him, she simply smiled warmly, nodded, and opened up her Quibbler. She hummed quietly under her breath as she flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

Harry watched her before finally turning to look out the window, and he could feel Ginny's eyes on him as he did so. He wasn't sure how long the three of them sat there--Luna engaged in her paper, Ginny studying him, and Harry trying his best to ignore the feeling of being watched--before Ginny finally spoke.

"Rumor is that since Umbridge isn't around anymore, you'll get to be back on the team this year."

Harry simply nodded, his gaze focused out the window as the train began to move. Just a few months prior, that news would have been the highlight of his day. But now? Now, Quidditch was the last thing on his mind. All he could think about now was surviving the year.

"You'll be seeker again," Ginny offered, trying her best to ease him into conversation.

Harry remained quiet for a moment before finally turning to look at her. "What about you?" he asked, and he noticed a wave of relief come over her face at his voice.

"I'd rather be a chaser anyway," she replied, smiling slightly.

Harry opened his mouth to respond but found himself interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice.

"Well if it isn't Hogwarts little hero."

Harry turned his gaze towards the doorway of the compartment where Malfoy stood, smirking in his usual annoying manner. And for the first time Harry could remember, he didn't have Crabbe and Goyle shadowing him.

Harry scowled deeply. Of all the people Harry wanted nothing to do with, Malfoy topped that list.

He was not in the mood for the blond git today.

"Go away, Malfoy," Ginny spoke up from her seat, the annoyance emblazoned across her face. Luna simply looked from Ginny to Malfoy with mild interest before returning to her paper.

"Wasn't talking to you, Weasley," he smirked at her. Ginny mumbled something under her breath in response as Malfoy turned his attention back to Harry. "You must be enjoying this, huh? You get to be the celebrity again this year." Malfoy crossed his arms. "The boy who proved Voldemort was alive."

Harry's body tensed as he fought to keep himself in his seat. "Mad I finally proved your father to be what he really is?"

"My father knows which side to be on," Malfoy spat out. "And when you and your little friends are dying off one by one, you'll know who was right all along."

Harry didn't realize he was on his feet until he felt a hand on his arm. Ginny was standing as well, at his side, holding him back. Luna remained seated, her Quibbler now neatly folded in her lap as she watched everything unfold.

"None of my friends are going to die," Harry growled, ignoring Ginny's tugging on his arm.

Malfoy gave him a half-smile, amused to get a rise out of him. "Oh they will, and that mudblood Granger will be the first to go."

Harry pulled his wand without even thinking, pointing it fiercely in Malfoy's face. "You even look at any of my friends the wrong way--"

"And you'll what, Potter?" Malfoy replied, unfazed.

"Harry," Ginny hissed, pulling harder on his arm. "Don't. You'll get in trouble before we even officially begin the year."

Malfoy grinned deviously, throwing a glance at Ginny. "Should listen to her, Potter. Would hate for the school hero to lose points for his precious house because of a temper."

Harry scowled at him. All he wanted was to curse that stupid sneer right off the boy's face, to let loose all the anger and frustration he had held in all summer. To make Malfoy his outlet much like Dudley had done for so many years on him.

"Harry," Ginny said again from beside him, "just ignore him and sit back down."

Harry inhaled deeply, looking over at Ginny who had her own determined look on her face. His gaze returning to Malfoy, he finally lowered his wand, slipping it back inside his school robe with a frown.

"I knew you didn't have it in you, Potter." Malfoy's sneer only intensified. "The big hero is all talk."

That was all Harry needed to push him over the edge.

He swung out hard, hitting Malfoy across the face. Malfoy stumbled back, a hand held to his nose as he cursed Harry loudly. Harry silently stood his ground, grimacing at the pain that was shooting through his hand. Ginny held a hand over her mouth, shocked, as Luna continued to sit calmly in her seat.

"You're gonna pay, Potter!" Malfoy growled as his nose trickled blood, quickly grabbing his wand and pointing it at him. Harry reached for his own wand but stopped mid-grab as a voice cut through the compartment.

"Draco Malfoy, put that wand away!"

Everyone turned to see Cho Chang approaching, a stern look on her face. Malfoy wiped at his nose with the back of his hand before throwing the older girl a hateful glare.

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Cho stood tall, proud, her arms crossed over her chest. "As Head Girl, there's a lot I can do about it. Now put the wand away this moment, or I'll make sure your name is off the Hogsmeade list the rest of the term."

Malfoy squinted his eyes at her, trying to read her. He finally growled. "I wouldn't have pulled my wand if Potter hadn't hit me."

Cho glanced over at Harry, meeting his eyes. "I'll deal with him as well." She turned back to Malfoy. "Now please return to your compartment."

Malfoy held her stare before finally looking over at Harry with an expression Harry knew meant that this would be settled later. He slipped his wand back inside his robes and stormed away, muttering under his breath.

Harry massaged his throbbing hand as he frowned at Cho. "Take my Hogsmeade trips," he snapped. "See if I care."

"Harry!" Ginny hissed again, and Harry had to reel in the urge to tell her to stop saying his name that way.

"Before you try to have a go at me," Cho replied with the raise of an annoyed eyebrow, "maybe you should hear what I have to say."

Harry simply stared, his temper still simmering.

"I'm sure Draco deserved whatever you did to him, but you're lucky it was me and not someone else who came across you two," she frowned, finally dropping her arms. "But next time? I won't look the other way."

"I don't need you covering for me, Cho. You can tell Dumbledore or McGonagall or, hell, even Snape for that matter. I don't care."

"Well, you better _start_ caring," she bit back before calmly strolling away from their compartment.

"Are you bloody insane?!" Ginny asked when they were finally alone.

Harry sat back down, his hand still throbbing slightly. He continued to rub it as he watched Ginny return to her own seat.

"Picking a fight with Malfoy, then mouthing off to a girl who has the power to make your life a living hell this term?" she continued when he didn't answer. "Have you gone completely nutters?"

"No," he said simply. He looked down at his hand, his knuckles beginning to bruise.

He'd seen Dudley punch people a lot over the years and had even been the punching bag himself on countless occasions, but this was new. To be the one on the delivering end and to see that some pain came with _delivering_ pain.

He made a fist, grimacing, and before he could even open his mouth to protest, Luna had taken his hand in one of her warm ones. He watched her curiously as she removed her wand from its place behind her ear. She placed the tip of her wand gently onto his knuckles and spoke in her airy manner.

"Solacium."

As the word left her lips, a tiny blue light illuminated the tip of her wand for only a second before fading away. She smiled at Harry and placed her wand securely back behind her ear. Harry slowly pulled his hand from hers, looking down to see that the bruising had gone away. He made a fist and found himself amazed that there was no longer any soreness as well.

He looked up at her, a stunned smile on his face. "How'd you…?"

"Relief charm," she stated casually as she began to unfold her Quibbler and open it back to the article that she had been reading before Malfoy had entered their compartment. "Mum used it all the time when I scratched myself up in the yard."

"Huh," was all he could say as he glanced at his hand again.

Before he could form any thought more than that, Ron and Hermione came rushing into the compartment, Ron leading the way.

Hermione opened her mouth, for what Harry could only imagine was going to be a scolding for punching Malfoy, but Ron interrupted her reprimand. "You punched Malfoy?!"

Ginny spoke for him. "Yes because he's lost his mind!"

Harry frowned. "I have _not_ lost my mind."

Hermione took a seat next to Ginny as she gave Harry a cautious look. "I can't believe you hit him."

"I can't believe I missed it!" Ron exclaimed, taking the remaining seat next to Hermione.

"It was quite interesting," Luna spoke from behind her Quibbler.

"It's a wonder you're both not in trouble at the moment," Hermione frowned.

Ginny shook her head. "Cho came by and stopped it. Let them both off with a warning."

Ron raised an eyebrow at that. "She still fancy you then?"

Harry simply shrugged, not wanting to talk about any of this anymore. He turned his attention back out the window, hoping his friends would take the cue and drop the issue. He felt three pairs of eyes stare at him as silence fell over the compartment. Biting his tongue, he tried his best to ignore the sensation of being studied.

And just as the feeling was becoming overwhelming, Ginny broke the silence by asking Ron and Hermione about OWL year. Harry listened in as his friends began discussing their hopes for classes, for grades, and for the term in general.

Harry frowned at his own reflection in the window.

If today was any indication of what was to come, he was fairly certain this term would be his hardest ever.


	2. Bring me to Life

Chapter Title: Bring Me to Life  
Rating: PG  
Summary: The weight of the prophecy still taking its toll on him, Harry continues to close off to everyone but finds blocking Luna out is harder than it looks.  
A/N: Thanks a lot for the feedback! It's much appreciated!!!

----------

"How can you see into my eyes like open doors  
Leading you down to my core  
Where I've become so numb without a soul  
My spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
Until you find it there and lead it back home"  
-- "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence

---------

Harry sat by the edge of the lake, staring blankly out over its water.

He had survived to see his first weekend of his sixth year at Hogwarts. Had survived the first week back without any incidents, without any threats on his life (much to his surprise). Things seemed almost normal.

Classes had gone as he had expected for NEWT levels. The professors continued on as they normally did each year, Snape returning to scowling in Harry's general direction every chance he could get. Malfoy still took every opportunity to make a snide remark, but to Harry's surprise, he had not yet taken the chance to finish what they had begun on the train. All in all, the castle bustled about like it did year after year.

It was almost as if last year had not occurred.

Almost.

Harry frowned as he recounted giving his friends the cold shoulder again this morning. He had joined them at breakfast, late at that, and had sat quietly with them as he ate his slightly chilled food. Ron and Hermione had watched him cautiously for a moment, their whispered conversation (which he knew had been about him) halted once he had joined them. Ron had offered up a semi-chess tournament to waste away the day, but Harry had only shook his head and muttered a "no thanks" in response.

He had finished his cold breakfast in record time, barely taking time to chew properly, before making his exit from the table as quickly as his arrival. He had wandered the halls for a bit, avoiding the stares of students as he passed them.

He knew what they were thinking; they always thought it. With Voldemort's announced return, he had once again become The Boy Who Lived. To them, he was nothing but a marked man. And with each stare, he could feel them measuring him up. Wondering if Harry, of all people, could really be the key to the end of the reign of the darkest wizard that had ever lived.

Little did they know that he himself lay awake wondering that same question every damn night.

With a sigh, Harry pulled his knees up to his chest, folding his arms and resting them there. He was still lost in thought when a voice spoke to him from over his shoulder.

"Hello, Harry."

He glanced over his shoulder to see Luna standing and watching him. Her hair pulled back into a messy braid, her bangs still wildly falling into her eyes, she wore her Ravenclaw robe open over her jeans and wildly zigzag patterned lavender shirt. In her hands, she carried a bouquet of pink flowers, the blossoms seeming to cover the entire stems of the plants.

"Hello, Luna," he replied, hoping that would suffice and she would continue down the trail.

However, she stayed in her spot, watching him. "What are you doing out here?" she asked curiously.

Harry frowned in response and turned his gaze back out over the water. "Luna, I'd prefer to be alone," he said truthfully.

He thought that would be all it would take for her to leave him, but he found himself surprised when she sat down beside him, pulling her legs under her body. He watched her as she smoothed out a wrinkle in her school robe with her free hand, her other hand still holding carefully to the flowers she had gathered.

"Luna," he sighed.

He didn't want to be rude, especially to Luna who always seemed to be on the receiving end of rudeness, but he didn't exactly want company either.

"You'd prefer to be alone," she repeated with a nod. "But what we prefer isn't always what we need. That's the kind of philosophy that leads to broken bones."

Harry blinked, confused. "Er…"

Luna smiled slightly. "When I was six, I preferred to climb the tree in my yard instead of stay inside." She added casually, "Until I fell one day. Very nasty spill. Broke my arm in three places."

"I'm not climbing a tree, Luna," he frowned. "I'm just sitting here."

Luna nodded, carefully lining the flowers up on the ground in front of her. "Your summer wasn't okay," she stated matter-a-factly as if someone had just asked her the time of day.

"What?" he asked quickly, watching her.

"On the train," she replied, her attention still focused on her flowers. "You said your summer was okay, but that's not true."

He blinked at her, and she turned her prominent silver-blue eyes on him. "Am I wrong?"

Harry hesitated before shaking his head. "No." He studied her for a moment. "How did you know?"

"You're quite the horrible liar." She continued before he could protest, "You had to think about your answer. If your summer had been okay, you wouldn't have had to think on it."

Harry remained silent, not sure what else to say. He had discussed his summer with no one, not even his closest friends. He had not shared with them the nightmares about Sirius that kept him awake most nights. Had not shared the thoughts that haunted his tired days, thoughts of losing more people he cared about. Had not shared with them the prophecy, the one that named him victim or murderer.

He had not said a word. He knew that his friends would want to know, would want him to unload some of his burden on them, but he couldn't. He didn't want them to know because they would try in their own ways to comfort him.

But they couldn't comfort what they couldn't understand.

"Do you believe in prophecies?" Harry heard himself ask.

He wasn't sure if he had meant to say it or not, but it had happened. Either through conscious choice or subconscious need, the question had been asked, and there was no way to take it back.

When Luna didn't answer, he glanced over at her, wondering for a moment if the question had only been in his head after all. But the quizzical manner in which she was now scrutinizing him told him otherwise.

"Do you?" she finally asked.

"I--I'd like to say no."

"I believe prophecies are what we make of them," Luna replied sagely.

"But that's the point of prophecies. That you can't control what happens."

"I suppose if you don't believe in free will, that would be the case." She nodded before continuing. "If you believe in free will, then prophecies are just the directions for the path we're taking. You don't have to follow the directions as they're written."

Harry stared at her, taken aback. For someone who believed in things like Nargles and Crumple-horned Snorkacks, she could speak wisely at times. So wisely that he wondered if her oddities were a façade. A façade for what he couldn't be sure, but this Luna was not the same Luna he had laid his eyes on a year ago on the Hogwarts Express.

The girl with the upside down Quibbler and radish earrings. The girl who wore the giant roaring hat at Gryffindor's game against Slytherin. The girl who lost her belongings at the hands of her fellow classmates and had to post notices at the end of each term simply to get them back.

This Luna was not as odd as he remembered her being. She was quirky, yes, but there was something else. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but whatever it was, it was there.

"Was that the answer you were hoping for?"

Harry snapped from his thoughts at her voice. He hadn't realized that he had been studying her for so long, but if his unwavering stare had unnerved her, Luna showed no sign of it. She simply stared back, awaiting his answer.

"I don't know," he frowned, finally turning his gaze back over the lake. He hesitated, holding his breath. "There's this prophecy that either Voldemort or I must die."

He had said it-- the shadow that had been lingering in his step all summer. It felt odd saying it aloud, to hear his own voice proclaim his own demise. To hear it and feel as if, now, it was no longer an irrational fear but a truth etched in stone.

"Hmm," was all Luna said in response.

Harry turned to her. That was all she could say? All the response she could muster to his words?

"Hmm?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Well, it would seem that it would have to be the way. You're both very powerful, you know. It makes sense that those powers can't exist at the same time."

Harry frowned. "But the prophecy. If, if it's true--"

"Then you will defeat Voldemort," she finished. She pulled one of her flowers from the line she had formed and twirled its stem gently between her fingers, watching the blossoms dance.

"Or I die," Harry corrected, his frown deepening.

"Well, yes, if those are the directions you choose for your path." She glanced at him with a tilt of her head. "But to choose your own death doesn't seem very wise."

"I'm not choosing--"

He stopped mid-protest as he realized she was right.

He didn't fear the prophecy because he feared being a murderer. He feared the prophecy because he feared his own death and what it would mean for the wizarding world as a whole. He feared it because somewhere in the back of his mind, he had already chosen defeat at the hands of Voldemort as the only likely end to all of this.

Unknowingly, he _had_ chosen his own death.

Harry thought about that for a moment before turning to look at Luna. She had returned to gathering her flowers one by one into a makeshift bouquet.

"What are those for?" he asked, nodding towards the flowers in her hand.

"These?" she asked with a soft smile. "They're Heather blossoms. They bring good luck. I gather them at the beginning of each year to place by my window."

"Not the best good luck, are they?" Harry replied.

Luna glanced at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if they brought you good luck, your things wouldn't disappear each year, would they?"

Luna offered him a wispy smile as she replied, "If they _didn't_ bring me good luck, my things would never return, now would they?"

Harry smiled slightly, the first time he could remember doing so in months. "No, I suppose not." He paused, thinking. "But won't they wilt after a few days?"

"Well, normally yes," she said with a nod. She pulled her wand from behind her ear and hovered the tip over her bouquet. "Conservare."

Harry watched a pale green light envelop the blossoms before fading away.

"What was that?" he asked, amused.

"A preservation spell," she stated, slipping her wand back behind her ear. She pulled a flower from the bunch and tucked it behind her other ear. With a smile, she stood. "I should go place them in water now."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "But doesn't the spell keep them from dying?"

"Yes, but they still enjoy the water. It'd be mean to deprive them of that."

Harry simply smiled and nodded.

"This year will be better than the last, Harry," she said, walking away.

He watched her depart, frowning. "How can you be so sure?" he called after her.

Luna turned back to him with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. "Because I trust it will be."

She started back towards him, and once she had returned to his side, she pulled a flower from her bouquet and held it out to him. Harry considered it for a moment before gently taking it from her hand.

"What's this for?" he asked, giving her a confused look.

"It wouldn't be lucky to keep all the luck for myself, would it?"

"No, I guess it wouldn't." Harry studied the flower before finally turning his eyes back up to Luna. "Thanks, Luna."

"You're welcome," she smiled. "Have a good afternoon, Harry."

"I will," he said, and for the first time, he believed it.

Luna nodded and started away, humming quietly under her breath. Harry watched her go back up the trail until he could no longer see her as she turned the bend that led back towards the castle. He glanced at the flower, watching the blossoms as he twirled the stem between his fingers.

----------

Harry walked into the Gryffindor common room, in better spirits than he had been in a long time, the flower Luna had given him safely tucked inside his robes. Hermione and Ron sat in their usual spot near the fireplace, a chessboard set up between them. They both looked up as he entered.

"Harry," Hermione greeted with a careful smile.

"Harry, mate, you--you want to have a go?" Ron asked as he cautiously pointed towards the chessboard.

Harry stood there for a moment, watching his two best friends, before smiling and giving a slight nod. "Yeah, I would."

Both his friends smiled back, and it warmed him to see them truly smiling at him. No fear. No caution. Simply friendship and warmth.

"I'll be right back."

Harry rushed up the staircase towards his room. Once inside, he made his way to his bed, carefully removing the flower from within his robes. With a slight smile, he placed it on the windowsill near his bed. Quickly slipping out of his robes, he tossed it onto his bed and made his way back downstairs to be with his friends.


	3. Everybody's Fool

Series Title: The Fallen Series  
Chapter Title: Everybody's Fool  
Author: Tonya  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Ginny has a secret that could have an effect on all her friends.  
A/N: I really want to thank you guys for all the feedback. It totally makes my day and pushes me to get the new chapters up more quickly for you guys! Thanks so much!

"No flaws when you're pretending  
But I know she never was and never will be  
You don't know how you've betrayed me  
And somehow you've got everybody fooled"  
-- "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence

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"Checkmate!"

Harry frowned at the board, then gave the same look to his best friend. "How is it every year I get worse at this game?"

Ron grinned, setting up the board again. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Harry and Ron sat in the common room, a chessboard between them. Much to Hermione's disapproval, they had opted to spend their Saturday afternoon lounging around rather than working on all the assignments that they had due in the coming days.

Sitting in a cushy chair by the fireplace, her Transfiguration text open in her lap, Hermione gave them a disapproving huff. Ron and Harry smirked at each other in response.

"Here we go again, mate," Ron laughed.

Hermione closed her book. "You two do realize that these classes count more now than they ever did, correct?"

"Hermione," Ron sighed with a roll of his eyes, "You say that _every_ year."

"I do not," she protested. "You know, sooner or later, you'll _have_ to do your work."

"And at the moment, we've decided on later," Ron grinned and Harry laughed, nodding in agreement.

"You're a lost cause," she muttered under her breath as she reached beside her chair and grabbed her bag. She pulled out her morning copy of The Daily Prophet before dropping her bag back to the ground.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her as she unfolded the paper and began to read. "That doesn't look like homework from where I'm sitting, Hermione."

Not looking up from her paper, she replied, "Well, someone in this group needs to keep informed."

Harry didn't ask what she meant because he understood. If anything out of the ordinary happened in the wizarding world, it would automatically show up in The Daily Prophet. So if they ever wanted any hint of Voldemort, his whereabouts, or his activities, that would be the first place they would need to look.

In the back of his mind, Harry was grateful that Hermione had taken on that role. He was paranoid enough without having to read the newspaper every morning and try to see the truth written between the lines.

"Ready to give it another go?" Ron asked as he finished setting up the board.

Harry turned to him with a slight smirk. "You're enjoying this too much, Ron."

"Hey," he laughed. "You're good at Quidditch. I'm good at Wizards' Chess."

"Speaking of Quidditch," Harry replied, making a move with his bishop, "I'm still feeling weird about this captain thing. I know you wanted it."

When Professor McGonagall had informed Harry that he had been made captain of the team this year, he had been almost certain that he had heard her wrong. It took her verifying it a second time before the realness of the situation had sunk in for him.

Ron shrugged it off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Harry, mate, don't worry about it. You're a bloody natural at the game." He smiled happily at him. "The choice makes perfect sense."

Harry returned the smile, a bit relieved that this wouldn't come between them like he had feared. He made another cautious move across the board before speaking again. "As soon as I see Ginny, I'll let her know the chaser position is hers if she wants it."

"You know," Ron said, looking up with a slight frown, "she _has_ been missing a lot recently." He turned to Hermione, who was still reading her paper. "Have you seen her around more than we have?"

Hermione looked up, her brow furrowed as she pondered that. "I see her at meals just like the two of you. Occasionally, I pass her in the dorms at night." She shook her head a bit. "I'm sure she's just busy with studying. It _is_ her OWL year after all. Remember how fanatical we became about studying?"

"Um, Hermione, that was mostly you," Harry replied.

"_All_ you, to be exact," Ron amended.

She narrowed her eyes at them. "Well, either way, I'm sure she's just a bit overwhelmed with the work. Once she gets her head above water, we'll see her around more."

Ron frowned a bit. "You don't know Ginny, Hermione. When she gets quiet like this, it could only mean she's starting trouble somewhere." He added, his frown deepening, "Trouble that _I_ will more than likely be blamed for."

"How odd," Hermione said from her chair.

Ron gave her a confused look. "That I'll get the blame if the little brat gets in trouble?"

"No," Hermione replied with a frown, looking up from her paper. "Seems there's been a surge in missing people reports locally."

"Missing people?" Harry asked cautiously, feeling his insides tightening upon themselves.

Hermione nodded, scanning the article with her finger as she paraphrased for her friends. "Apparently, there have been five recent reports of young wizards disappearing without a trace within the past month. No one seems to have any idea where they've gone."

Harry frowned, standing and making his way over to Hermione's chair. "Five people have disappeared in a month and they just _now_ find it newsworthy?" he asked, irritated at what he was hearing.

Hermione nodded, handing him the paper to read for himself. "They felt the disappearances were just random events. Not worth reporting."

"Now they don't seem so random," Harry muttered, his eyes skimming the article.

"You don't think it's--" Ron hesitated, clearing his throat. "--You-Know-Who, do you?"

Hermione declared negative as Harry said the opposite. Ron looked at them nervously, bracing himself for the raging argument to come as Harry turned his gaze from the paper to Hermione.

"No?" he asked. "You did read _this_ article, right?"

"Yes," she replied with a slow nod. "But, but there's no real proof here that he's in any way involved. We simply have five missing people which, yes, is quite odd, but that's all we have to go on, Harry."

Harry simply stared at her.

"I just think we need more information before we go over-reacting," she stopped herself before adding "again" to the end of her statement. "The names would be a good place to start. Maybe what the five people have in common. Things of that sort to make sure these _aren't_ just random events."

Harry sighed, folding up the paper. He hated to admit it, but she was right. They had nothing to go on here. Just one vague article.

He handed the paper back with a nod. "Okay, but how are we supposed to get that information?"

"Rita Skeeter still owes me a favor or two," Hermione replied, a look of relief on her face at his agreement with her. "I'm sure with her nosey ways, she'll be able to find us all the information we need."

Harry nodded and returned to his seat. He studied the chessboard blankly, his mind on everything but what move he needed to make.

"If it's him…." he said under his breath.

"Then, we'll handle it like we always do," Ron said with a slight nod. "Me and Hermione and Ginny and all the DA members will back you up. You've got your friends."

Harry smiled sadly at Ron before turning what little attention he had back to the chessboard.

----------

"You really need to lay off him."

Ginny stood in the empty corridor, speaking quietly despite the fact that there was no one to overhear her conversation. That's why they came here time and time again. No one at Hogwarts used this corridor anymore, with the exception of Mrs. Norris who enjoyed chasing the mice that scampered in the dark corners.

"And why would I do that?" Malfoy sneered, leaning against the wall and watching Ginny pace restlessly back and forth.

"Because," she snapped, stopping in her tracks, "what he did to you a few weeks ago on the train? I wouldn't be surprised if he did it again."

"I'm not afraid of Potter."

"Well, that's your problem, not mine," she frowned.

"Is _this_ why you owled me to meet you here?" he sighed as he pushed himself away from the wall. "To try to convince me to stop picking on your poor Potter?"

Ginny crossed her arms. "I was simply warning you that your little snide remarks may end up being met with more if you don't watch your step."

"I can watch my step just fine, Weasley."

"Fine," she replied with a roll of her eyes, walking down the corridor. "It'll be _your_ funeral."

"What?" Malfoy snickered behind her. "No goodbye kiss?"

Ginny simply frowned as she continued down the corridor, ignoring his remark. She quickly made her way to the library, where she often claimed to be when her roommates asked where she had been during certain parts of the day. She greeted Madam Pince with a small wave as she proceeded to the back of the library, where her schoolbag remained exactly where she had left it.

She sat with a sigh and pulled out her History of Magic textbook, opening to the chapter she needed to read. She frowned at the book, her mind still on Malfoy and her latest meeting with him.

They'd been meeting since the beginning of school, a few times a week. At first, the meetings consisted of setting ground rules. No talking here. No interaction there. However, at some point, the meetings had turned from setting ground rules to making out.

Ginny had begun to consider the possibility that she had lost her mind because, at this point, that was the only thing that made any remote sense. She frowned, wondering what would have happened if she had simply minded her own business this summer.

----------

Ginny stood at the counter of Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes, going through the newest shipments that had arrived that morning. Every Thursday morning she could be found here with her two older brothers, helping them organize and catalogue all the new merchandise that arrived for the shop. Not only did it get her out of the house at least once a week, but they also paid her for her work.

And there was no way Ginny would turn down getting paid to goof off with her brothers for a few hours each week.

Ginny was counting the newest collection of Skiving Snackboxes (and debating purchasing one for herself) when she noticed a familiar blond figure passing by the storefront. She raised a curious eyebrow, her attention drawn from her task.

What was Malfoy doing in Diagon Alley? It was too early in the summer for him to be purchasing books for school, and Ginny always assumed that the Malfoys would special order anything else so that they wouldn't have to visit the likes of Diagon Alley more than was necessary. Besides, he appeared to be alone. What could he possibly be doing?

Her curiosity getting the best of her, Ginny quickly stacked the Skiving Snackboxes and stepped from around the counter. "Fred, George, I'll be right back!" she called towards the back room of the shop.

Ginny found herself met with the sound of a small explosion, laughter, then a unanimous "Alright!" from the twins.

Ginny walked out of the shop, catching sight of Malfoy entering Flourish and Blotts. She quickly made her way across the walk, catching the door of the shop before it even fully closed. Malfoy continued on, unaware of her shadowing his every move. She followed as he walked up the staircase to the upper level of books, turning quickly into one of the aisles. Ginny quietly walked down the aisle next to the one he had entered and stood on her tiptoes to peer over the edge of the books to get a better view.

She held her breath, trying to make as little noise as possible, as she watched Malfoy study the row of books. He finally found the one he wanted and placed a hand on it, quickly glancing around before he removed it from the shelf. He flipped through the pages for a moment before taking another look around and slipping it inside his jacket.

Ginny frowned. "The little thief!" she hissed quietly.

Malfoy started out of the aisle, and Ginny did the same. There was no way she was going to let him get away with stealing. Especially not when she had caught him red-handed.

Too busy checking over his shoulder, Malfoy nearly plowed her down. "Watch it!" he growled before looking to see who he had run into. When he realized it was Ginny, his scowl only deepened. "Weasley."

"Early school shopping?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"None of your business," he snapped back. He made a move to step around her, and she stepped to the side, blocking his escape. "What the hell is your problem? Get out of my way."

"You know, with all that money, it surprises me that you'd steal a book of all things." She smirked. "What? Your Death Eater daddy stop giving you an allowance?"

Malfoy took a threatening step towards her, speaking fiercely. "Don't stand there and act like you know my family, Weasley, because you don't."

"I know enough."

"You know nothing."

"Well, please enlighten me," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You think you want to know about the Malfoys?" he replied with a bitter laugh. "Fine, here's your crash course."

He then proceeded to tell her about his father and his need to be like him. His mother and his need to impress her. And life in the Malfoy household in general. Ginny just stood and listened, shocked to silence that he was even telling her these things. As she listened, she wondered if all this pent up frustration had simply made him not care, made him forget that he was speaking to her of all people.

To a Weasley.

To the enemy.

To a girl who loathed him just as much as he loathed her.

When he finished, he frowned deeply at her. "There. Now you know."

Ginny nodded slowly. "Now I know."

He pointed threateningly at her as if it had just donned on him with who he had just shared these inner thoughts. "You tell anyone, Weasley, and I will make you sorry."

Ginny frowned in response. "Hadn't really planned on it," she replied honestly.

Malfoy studied her for a moment before nodding. He stepped around her and made his way towards the staircase, Ginny watching.

"Hey!" she called out to him as he reached the stairs.

"Look," Malfoy replied, turning back to her with a frown, "just because I told you those things doesn't change things here."

"Actually," she said after a moment, "I was going to ask you about the book."

"I'll return it later," he frowned and started down the staircase before she could say more.

Ginny simply watched him disappear.

----------

Since that day, they had run into each other on rare occasions during her Thursday mornings at Diagon Alley. There had been no other revealing conversations, no mentions of that day in the bookstore. Just simple cautious greetings when they passed on the street, she on her way to her brothers' shop and he on his way to Flourish and Blotts.

Ginny frowned as she closed up her book and slid it back into her bag. She much preferred the days before that morning in Flourish and Blotts. Because before he was simply Malfoy. The enemy. The brat. The troll. After that morning, she started to see him as something else.

A very annoying and irritating human but a human nonetheless.

She definitely preferred the days when he had simply been a troll.

Ginny slowly gathered her things and made her way out of the library and back to her tower, practicing her excuse for the night in her head as she climbed the stairs.

* * *

A/N: For those who feel that Malfoy opening up to Ginny is out of the blue (which in all honesty it is), I promise that there is method to my madness. Hopefully… No there really is. Lol

Next Chapter: My Immortal-- Harry finds himself haunted by nightmares of Sirius as things in the wizarding world reach a dangerous boiling point.


	4. My Immortal

Chapter Title: My Immortal  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Harry finds himself haunted by nightmares of Sirius as things in the wizarding world reach a dangerous boiling point.

"I've tried so hard to tell myself you're gone  
And though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along"  
-- "My Immortal" by Evanescence

----------

The floor cold against the soles of his feet, Harry felt his way down the darkened hallway. He walked slowly, the palm of his hand trailing carefully across the wall as he moved. Feeling for the change of texture from the roughened walls to the smoothness of a wooden door.

He needed to find the door.

His pace quickened as the feeling of running out of time took a hold of him. He squinted, trying to will his eyes to suddenly find light where there was none. His breathing seemed unusually loud against his eardrums, bouncing back and forth against the walls as he continued his search.

He needed to find the door.

His breath caught in the back of his throat as he felt his hand finally trail across smooth wood. He blindly felt for the doorknob, still holding his breath as he feared the door would be locked. To his relief, however, the knob turned and he carefully pushed the door open.

Light blinded him, and he raised his hands to shield his eyes, to give them time to adjust. He lowered it slowly, peering over his fingers into the center of the room. He could hear only his heart pounding in his ears as he lay eyes on the archway, the black veil laying perfectly over it.

Harry found himself standing arm's length from the archway and glanced over his shoulder towards the doorway. He couldn't recall taking the steps from one point to the other, and yet here he was. He turned his eyes back to the veil, his mouth dry.

Harry.

Harry blinked.

The veil simply fluttered against some unseen wind.

Harry.

He had heard it that time; he was certain. Had heard his name. Had heard the voice. Sirius's voice.

"Sirius?" he asked, his voice full of hope and his stomach full of butterflies.

Harry.

Harry reached out with a tentative hand, his fingers hovering over the veil. All he had to do was touch it, pull it away. Just one simple move of his fingers, his wrist, and he would have Sirius back.

He would have his life back.

Harry grabbed the veil in his hand and froze, the fabric bunched between his fingers. He watched as the edge of the veil slowly raised itself, drifting up to his arm and coiling itself around him. His heart racing again, Harry tried to pull away but found the veil only tightened as it continued to wrap itself around his arm.

Harry.

Harry held his breath at the voice, tugging even harder on his arm to free it. That was not the same voice he had heard earlier. No, this voice he had heard many times before. This voice he had heard in his own head the previous year, had heard it tell Dumbledore to end Harry's pain.

This was not the voice of his godfather.

This was the voice of his enemy.

This was the voice of Voldemort.

Harry tugged fiercely at his arm, as the voice called out to him more tauntingly. The veil wrapped itself up to his shoulder, quickly snaking its way around his neck. With his free hand, Harry tried to pry the fabric away but found his efforts useless as the veil only constricted more tightly around his throat. He gasped for air as he clawed at the fabric.

If he could just get it off….

If he could just get one more breath….

If he could just….

His last thought fell away as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he lost consciousness.

Harry awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat and gasping for air. He held in a frustrated groan as he tried to untangle himself from his sheets, which he had somehow managed to wrap himself up in during the course of the night. Free of his sheets, he laid still for a moment, the heels of his hands pressing against his eyes.

He'd thought he was past the nightmares, the haunts. He had apparently thought wrong.

With a sigh, he kicked the sheets away and sat up. Trying not to wake his roommates, he slipped from bed and opened his trunk. He pulled on a pair of sneakers and grabbed his invisibility cloak, gently closing the lid of the trunk back into place.

He needed to get out, to clear his mind. He was certain he wouldn't find sleep again tonight anyway so there was no real point in lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, and waiting for the sun to rise.

Harry grabbed his glasses from the side of his bed and quietly made his way out of the room, hoping that by the time he returned, the sun would be up and the night would be behind him yet again.

----------

Harry took his normal seat across from Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table with a yawn.

He had returned to his room that morning just as the sun had begun to rise. Locking his cloak up in his trunk, he had returned to his bed, but he didn't sleep. He had laid and stared out the window until he heard the familiar sounds of his roommates waking and shuffling sleepily around the room. Even though he had been the first one awake, Harry had been the last to drag himself from bed and get ready, telling Ron that he'd just meet him in the Great Hall when he was ready.

Harry began to fix his plate and pour himself a glass of juice as Ron greeted him with what could have been a "good morning" but was slightly muffled by a mouthful of eggs. Hermione glanced up from her Daily Prophet (which she had taken to studying every possible free moment she had after reading about the missing people over a week ago) and smiled as she greeted him.

"Rough night?" she asked as Harry yawned again.

He shook his head. "Just tired is all."

She nodded and returned to her paper as Ginny appeared and took the remaining empty seat beside Harry. "Morning," she offered up with a weak smile as she poured herself a cup of juice.

Ron raised an eyebrow at his little sister in response. "You've been sleeping in a lot lately."

"Didn't realize that was a crime," she frowned back.

Without even looking up from her paper, Hermione sighed. "Could you two please leave all sibling bickering 'til after lunch?"

Harry poked at his food as he watched Hermione intently reading her paper. He frowned slightly. "Any news from Rita?"

Hermione finally looked up, exhaling deeply. "No, not yet. I'm hoping to get an owl from her by the end of the day."

Harry nodded as Ginny spoke up from beside him. "Wait, why are you writing that lady?"

"Because of the missing people, Ginny," Ron replied before taking a large gulp of juice. "The ones I told you about a few days ago. Keep up with us here."

Ginny threw him a look before turning her gaze to Hermione and then Harry. "You guys really think he's behind it?"

Hermione and Harry shared a look across the table before Hermione gave Ginny a tentative nod. "It's a possibility," she said. "Which is why we're trying to find out as much information as possible."

Ron frowned. "I feel like a prat saying this, but I kinda hope they're just random missing people."

"I think we all do," Harry replied, returning his friend's frown.

Hermione simply nodded and returned to her reading. They all ate in silence for a while, no one sure what else to say. It wasn't until Hermione nearly knocked over her glass of juice that the silence was broken.

"What?" Harry, Ron, and Ginny all asked at once.

Hermione looked up at her friends and then folded her paper carefully and handed it to Harry. "Two Aurors were killed last night," she said quietly.

Harry held her stare for a moment before finally glancing down at the article for himself. He read silently as he felt his pulse begin to race.

"But, but that's a dangerous line of work, right?" Ginny asked, as if to convince herself that this was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Yeah, especially when you're dealing with Death Eaters," Harry replied darkly, handing the paper back to Hermione.

Ron choked on his drink. "Death Eaters?"

Hermione nodded, slowly refolding her paper back to its original state. "The Ministry of Magic is looking into it, but they're considering it as a possibility." She sighed before continuing. "Which unfortunately seems like a likely possibility. With Voldemort back, his followers are more than likely to come out of the woodworks. Old and new."

Ginny shifted uncomfortably in her chair but said nothing.

"Which makes the whole random disappearances seem even _less_ random," Harry concluded.

"It does," Hermione replied with a nod. She quickly began to gather her things, slipping her copy of The Daily Prophet into her schoolbag.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked as he watched her stand.

"To owl Rita again. We need to find out what's going on before we're too late." She swung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you all in class."

With that, she hurried out of the Great Hall, her friends watching her depart. Once she was gone, silence took over the table again. Ron poked at his food for a moment before slowly making a move to finish off his plate. Ginny followed her brother's actions, eating quietly and avoiding looking at either boy. Harry stared at his plate, his stomach suddenly feeling as if it were full of lead. He pushed the plate away with a frown before grabbing his bag from the floor.

"I'm heading to class," he mumbled.

Ron simply nodded, understanding Harry's need to be away at the moment. Grateful, Harry gave his friend a small smile before leaving the table, and with every step he took, all he could think about were the two dead Aurors and what it would mean in the long run.

----------

"So you don't know anything?"

Ginny sat on the floor of the hallway, tapping her fingers against the concrete. She watched as Malfoy leaned against the wall opposite of her with an irritated sigh.

"What am I supposed to know?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know," she frowned. "Your family is full of Death Eaters; you should know something."

"Hate to disappoint you, Ginny, but I don't know anything about the two dead Aurors."

Ginny stood with a frustrated groan. "Nothing at all? I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Believe what you want," he shrugged. "It's the truth."

"I didn't know you knew the definition of that word."

Malfoy stepped up to her, sneering. "Funny how that doesn't bother me coming from the girl sneaking around behind her brother's back."

"I'm not sneaking."

"Really?" He took another step towards her, and she took an instinctive step backwards, her back running into the wall. "So what do you call this then?"

"A horrible lapse in judgement," she spat back.

She made a move to leave, and he threw his arm up, blocking her exit.

"Is it? Let's not forget that _you_ owled me, Ginny."

"Because I wanted information," she argued. "Not because I wanted to snog you in some nasty grimy hallway."

Malfoy simply grinned and leaned in, kissing her roughly. Ginny returned the kiss for a moment before pushing him away, hard. Malfoy stumbled away from her with a chuckle.

"G'night, Malfoy," she frowned, starting away.

"Night, Weasley," he laughed, arms folded.

Ginny threw him a hateful glare before quickly making her way out of the corridor.

----------

Harry and Ron sat quietly in the Gryffindor common room, Ron working on his recent Transfiguration assignment and Harry staring blankly at the open Defense Against Dark Arts text in his lap. He glanced over at the empty chair by the fireplace that Hermione usually occupied this time of night.

After dinner, she had informed them that she was going to check the owlery to see if she had received any late night post from Rita.

Harry both needed and feared what new information that Rita could provide for them. With one simple letter, she could verify that this was all the work of Voldemort. Verify that Harry's worst fears were correct and that the time was now or never.

Harry opened his mouth to ask Ron how long it had been since they and Hermione had parted ways but found the question unnecessary as she walked into the common room, a letter bunched in her right hand. She wore a slightly worried look that did nothing to ease the queasiness in Harry's stomach.

Ron instantly pushed his work to the side. "Did she reply?"

Hermione nodded and sat in her chair, each boy's gaze focused solely on her. "She replied."

"And?" Harry asked, trying his best to ignore the sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"The five missing people? They _are_ connected," she sighed. "All five are graduates of Hogwarts and all five worked at the Ministry of Magic at some point in time."

Harry blinked. "Why wasn't that in the paper?"

"Because five random missing people doesn't strike panic in a population. Five people with connections to the Ministry?" She frowned. "Instant panic."

"So the Ministry was hiding that fact from the press?" Ron asked.

"Not the press," Hermione corrected with a shake of her head. "The public. They ordered that the Prophet not mention anything about the social status of the missing people."

"Which explains why their names weren't even in the article," Harry frowned, sitting back in his chair.

"So what do we do now?" Ron asked, his brow furrowed. "Tell Professor Dumbledore?"

"He probably already knows," Harry mumbled, thinking back to the previous year when Dumbledore seemed to already know everything he didn't.

"I don't think there's really anything we _can_ do," Hermione frowned. "Not yet anyway."

"Not until he brings the war right to us," Harry replied, closing his book angrily.

Hermione and Ron shared a look, neither really wanting to be the one to provoke their friend by saying anything else. Before either could even form a proper response, Harry stood, gathering his things.

"I'm heading to bed."

Hermione watched him sadly. "Night, Harry."

"See you in a bit, mate," Ron replied quietly.

Harry simply nodded at his friends before disappearing up the stairs to his room.

----------

Harry woke abruptly, nearly falling out of his bed as he wrestled with the demons of his dreams. He sighed loudly, kicking his sheets away in anger. All he wanted was one night when he didn't wake up covered in sweat, gasping for air. Just one night where his dreams didn't physically drain him to the point of exhaustion. Just one night where he could sleep without incident until the sun rose.

Just one.

Harry climbed quietly out of his bed, going through what had become a nightly routine recently. He grabbed everything he needed as he moved around the room in the dark. Shoes. Cloak. Glasses.

Harry wrapped the cloak around his body before slowly opening the door and sneaking out of his room, out of the tower.

He had wandered the halls so much the past week that he knew Filch's nighttime stroll through the hallways by heart. He knew which corridors he investigated first, which he paid very little attention to. He even knew at what times Filch and Mrs. Norris would take their breaks from the stroll and return to his office to rest for a bit.

Harry wandered the halls, his thoughts not on his nightmares as they usually were. Tonight, all he could think about were the five missing wizards and the two dead ones. He knew it had to be the work of Voldemort, and if not him directly, then some of his followers doing his bidding.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

He couldn't stop the murders that he was certain would continue to come. He couldn't bring back the missing people. All he could do was sit like a proper boy and wait for Voldemort to decide that it was time for Harry to be brought into the grand scheme.

Gritting his teeth, Harry fought to hold in the scream of frustration that he wanted so badly to release.

All these things were happening because of him, because Voldemort wanted to finish what he had started sixteen years ago. Innocent people were dying because Voldemort wanted to prove a point, and there wasn't a damn thing that Harry could do about it.

Harry stopped in his tracks as he heard a faint noise coming from one of the connecting hallways. He held his breath, trying to make out the sound.

Whatever it was, it was melodic….

It was humming.

If there was one thing Harry was certain of, it was that Filch didn't have a musical bone in his body and more than likely wouldn't be caught dead humming _any_ tune. So who else would be roaming the halls at these hours and humming in a way that, if they weren't careful, would surely get them caught?

Harry quickly followed the sound, wondering whom he'd stumble across. He found that question answered as he noticed Luna further ahead in the hallway. She didn't seem too worried about getting caught as she continued on her way, oblivious to the way her humming seemed to echo in the stillness of the castle.

"Luna!" he called out quietly to her, hoping to catch her attention before Filch made his nightly round through this corridor.

He watched her turn at his voice and stare for a moment, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from. Only then did Harry remember that he was wearing the invisibility cloak and quickly uncovered himself.

"Oh, hello Harry," she smiled as soon as he was visible.

He quickly made his way over to her, throwing a cautious glance back over his shoulder for Filch. "What are you doing out here?" he asked as soon as he was standing in front of her.

"Talking a walk," she stated casually. "I find it helps when I'm restless."

Restless.

He could definitely understand that feeling at the moment.

"Maybe you shouldn't hum when you take your walks," Harry offered. "Filch doesn't exactly like for us to be out of our towers after hours."

"That's a very neat trick you did," she replied, ignoring his warning.

"It's not a trick really." He shrugged, "Just an old cloak of my dad's."

"Do you use it often?"

"Um, well, only when I need to."

"You need to now?"

"Well, this way Filch won't see me. He's sorta had it in for me since day one." Harry frowned. "Like quite a number of people around here actually."

Luna raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't have it in for you."

Harry laughed quietly. "You're one of few."

Luna opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the sound of quiet meowing. Harry quickly glanced back down the corridor and could see Filch hastily making his way in their direction, muttering to Mrs. Norris under his breath.

Harry instantly moved out of the center of the hallway, grabbing Luna's arm and dragging her with him. "Quick, hold on to this!" he said quietly as he wrapped the cloak around both of them, Luna holding onto her end.

Mrs. Norris trotted by them, Filch right behind her. "Students roaming the halls all times of night," he growled. He turned to his cat. "Where'd you see them?"

Mrs. Norris stopped for a moment, her tail swishing slowly back and forth, before turning and trotting back over to them. Harry held his breath as Mrs. Norris seemed to be looking right through the cloak and at him and Luna. The cat took a tentative step towards them, and without thinking, Harry wrapped his free arm around Luna and pulled her back with him until his back was against the wall.

"What is it?" Filch asked the cat. He looked curiously at the spot Mrs. Norris seemed to be studying.

Go away. Leave. Go away.

Harry kept repeating the words in his head in some vain attempt for Mrs. Norris to read his thoughts and do as asked.

Just as Mrs. Norris raised a paw to bat at the cloak, a distinctive squeak came from further down the hallway. Her ears perked, she cocked her head in the direction of the sound. She quickly forgot about the two students that she had cornered as she turned and made her way to find the mouse that had made that noise.

Filch gave a disgusted groan. "Bloody cat," he muttered under his breath and started in the opposite direction in which Mrs. Norris had disappeared.

Harry watched Filch disappear, unaware that he had been holding his breath the entire time.

"That was interesting."

Harry instantly turned his head at Luna's voice, his nose bumping up against her forehead. In his need to not get caught, he had forgotten that he was still holding her body against his. A warm flush creeping up his neck, he instantly removed his arm from around her.

"Interesting?" he asked as Luna stepped out from under the cloak.

"That Mrs. Norris seemed to be able to see us," she replied, glancing in the direction in which the cat had disappeared.

"Yeah, she's done that before," he said with a nod. "She's the only one I've seen do that."

"They say cats have their own magical abilities," she said, turning back to him. "Perhaps that's one of them. To see things which humans can't."

"Who's they exactly?" Harry smirked.

"The rhetorical they who seem to have expert knowledge on everything of course," she stated matter-a-factly.

It was only when Harry saw her grin that he knew she was teasing him.

"Are you restless?" Luna asked as she brushed by him, walking in the direction from which Harry had come earlier.

Harry followed after her, soon walking in step beside her. "Restless?"

"The reason you're walking," she said, glancing at him.

"Oh that. Nightmares," he admitted with a shrug. "So I suppose you could say I'm restless."

"Oh!" she replied, excitement in her voice. "Is it the kind where you're falling?"

"Um, no…."

"Or perhaps it was the kind where you arrive naked to Potions class?"

Harry felt himself blush. "No. Though that will probably top my list of nightmares from now on."

"You know, I don't know why they're called nightmares," she said, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "They're just dreams like any other. No one says all dreams have to be happy."

"No, I suppose not," Harry frowned. "I just wish I could get rid of them."

Luna shrugged. "You can't get rid of them. You just have to learn to face them."

Harry's frown deepened. "And if I can't?"

"Well, it's quite easy really. Just remind yourself that it's nothing but a dream. That it's just your subconscious playing tricks on you."

"That simple, huh?" he asked, not entirely convinced.

She nodded. "That simple." She stopped, glancing in the direction of her tower. "I better head back. Have a good night, Harry."

"G'night, Luna."

She gave him a small wave before turning and making her way towards her tower, humming the song he had interrupted earlier in the night. Harry watched her disappear into the darkness before draping his cloak over himself again, starting off towards his own tower.

When returned to his room, he safely locked his things away in his trunk before climbing back into bed. He stared out his window with a frown. He still didn't feel like sleeping, but he didn't feel like roaming the hallways anymore tonight either.

He stared at the heather blossom Luna had given him the first week back to school. For good luck, she had said. Harry was beginning to think that he'd need an entire field in order to survive this year.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes, hoping to simply shut out the world for a few hours.


	5. Haunted

Chapter Title: Haunted  
Rating: PG/PG-13  
Summary: With one secret meeting, everything changes.  
A/N: Have I told you all how much you guys rock with the feedback? Well dammit, I'm saying it again. You all rock! Thanks so much for all your feedback on this little story of mine. Makes me all giddy.  
A/N2: Hi, Yun Fei, the reason I haven't introduced Snape (or any of the professors for that matter) is because I suck at writing them…lol That and I wanted to mainly focus on the students for this. Thanks!

"Watching me wanting me  
I can feel you pull me down  
Fearing you loving you  
I won't let you pull me down"  
-- "Haunted" by Evanescence

----------

Harry raised up the sleeve of his Quidditch robes, glancing at his watch. He looked around the locker room where the rest of the team sat, talking amongst themselves, as they waited patiently for practice to begin.

Ron approached him, sighing. "Leave it to my sister to delay a crucial practice."

Harry simply frowned. Before he could form a thought, Ginny briskly strolled into the locker room, a distracted look on her face. She avoided the eyes of both boys as she made her way over to the bench Ron had been occupying moments earlier.

"Thanks for gracing us with your presence, Ginny," Ron snapped as she took her seat.

"Sorry." She removed a maroon barrette from within her Quidditch robes and pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail. "Won't happen again, Harry. I promise."

Ron rolled his eyes at his sister before nudging Harry in the ribs, grinning. "Well, captain, looks like it's time for you to take charge."

Harry swallowed hard, nervousness fluttering in the pit of his stomach. "Yeah, looks like it."

"You'll do fine, mate." Ron gave him a nod and then took a seat beside Ginny.

Harry returned the nod, uncertain, as everyone's attention turned to him. "Okay," he said, clearing his throat, "so now that we're all here, we can get practice underway."

---------

Ron and Harry walked out of the locker room, returned to their normal clothes. Much to Harry's surprise, practice had gone rather smoothly, especially considering it had been the first in which he had been in charge. The only exception to the practice had been Ginny, who had done a superb job as chaser but, overall, had just seemed off for most of the night.

"What's wrong with Ginny?" Harry asked as he and Ron made their way back to the castle for dinner.

Ron scoffed. "You're asking me?"

"Well, you _are_ her brother, aren't you?" Harry replied with an amused smirk.

"Which only means I know what annoys the bloody hell out of her," he laughed. "Need to know what's going on in her head? Don't look at me."

"She's just been… odd lately."

"Well, odder than usual anyway," Ron shrugged. "Maybe it's one of those mysterious girl things."

"Maybe," Harry replied quietly.

"Hermione's the expert there. We can ask her."

Harry frowned a bit at the mention of his other best friend.

It had been a week since they had read about the two dead aurors, and ever since, Hermione had dedicated herself to analyzing each copy of the Daily Prophet that came across her fingers. She'd even started to look through back issues to make sure she hadn't missed a key fact or two. Harry couldn't help but feel guilty about all the time she'd been spending reading article after article. But every time he mentioned helping with the research, she'd shrug it off in her usual Hermione way. Ron figured it was best this way since, of the three of them, Hermione was the only one who could keep up research and homework at the same time and still pass her classes. Harry had to agree, but it didn't do much to take away the guilt of knowing she was spending every free moment helping him on his own personal crusade.

As Ron and Harry made their way to the Great Hall for dinner, they ran into Luna who was coming from the opposite direction. She read the Quibbler as she walked towards the doors, and she looked up in time to see them and smiled.

"Hello, Harry. Ronald."

"Hey, Luna," Harry said, returning the smile. Ron simply gave the girl a nod of acknowledgment.

"Have you heard the news?" she asked, grabbing Harry's arm excitedly.

"What news?" he asked, ignoring the sudden flush coming over him at her touch.

"There's been a new Crumple-Horned Snorkack sighting in Sweden," she replied, waving her copy of the Quibbler in her free hand.

Harry heard Ron snort beside him and resisted the urge to elbow his friend sharply in the side. "That's, uh, cool, Luna."

"Isn't it?" she grinned, finally releasing his arm.

With that, she flounced through the doors of the Hall, making her way to the Ravenclaw table. Ron shook his head with another snort as he and Harry started towards the Gryffindor table.

"What a loon," he muttered. "We have missing and dead wizards on our hands, and she's going on about crumpled back whatevers."

"Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Harry corrected with a frown. "And she's not a loon."

"By what standards?"

Harry almost snapped "by mine" but instead he shook his head. "She's not that bad once you get to know her."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "If you say so."

Harry shook his head as he took his seat next to Ginny. "Good practice by the way," he said to her.

She smiled over at him. "Thanks. Chaser's more my area."

Ron sat down beside Hermione, who didn't look up from her paper as he took his seat. "Is that today's issue?" Ron asked.

Hermione finally looked up at her friends with a frown. "Unfortunately."

"New information," Harry concluded, reading her expression.

Hermione nodded. "Another death."

Ron blinked at her as Ginny choked on her drink.

"An auror?" Harry asked.

"Yes and no," she sighed. "One of the missing wizards? He was training to be an auror. They found him… dead."

"Murdered dead?" Ginny asked cautiously.

Hermione nodded as Harry sighed in frustration. "It has to be Voldemort. It makes too much sense for it _not_ to be him."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

Harry leaned forward in his seat, frowning. "Three murders and all three have been aurors. Don't you see? He's killing off the people who have the best chance of defeating his Death Eaters."

"I think it's time we go speak with Dumbledore," Hermione replied. Harry opened his mouth to protest, but reading his thoughts, she cut him off before he could begin. "And I know, Harry, that you feel that Dumbledore may already know about all of this, but what if he doesn't? Do we really want to take that chance?"

"You're right," Harry said after a moment of thought. "We'll go see him first thing in the morning."

The others nodded, and the usual silence fell between them as they each began to eat their dinner.

----------

Ginny walked down the corridor and found Malfoy already there, waiting for her. She frowned and crossed her arms as she approached him.

"Why'd you owl me?" she asked.

"Drop the attitude, Weasley," he replied, stepping up to her. "I have information for you."

"Information?"

"Those deaths you were bugging me about."

"What about them?"

Malfoy hesitated. "They _were_ killed by Death Eaters. Just like the one in today's Prophet."

Ginny blinked. "And you're sure?"

He rolled his eyes in response. "First you doubt me when I say I don't know anything and _now_ you doubt me when I _do_ know something."

"I just… you're positive?"

"Very."

Ginny studied him for a moment, uncertain. "How'd you find out about it?"

Malfoy crossed his arms. "You said it yourself, Weasley, I come from a family of Death Eaters." He shrugged. "Look, believe me or don't believe me. Either way I frankly don't care."

Ginny frowned. "Then why are you even telling me?"

"Cause I'm sure you'd want to tell your precious Potter." He added quickly, "And I think it goes without saying that you didn't hear any of this from me."

She raised a curious eyebrow. "And why didn't I?"

"Because _I'm_ not supposed to know this." He shrugged. "Besides, you think Potter will actually trust any information coming from me?"

"Not like you've given him much reason to trust you," she frowned.

Malfoy smirked. "You trust me."

"I don't trust you," she replied with a shake of her head. "I tolerate you. There's a difference."

"Whatever you say," he chuckled under his breath.

Ginny frowned a bit, shifting on her feet. "Look, thanks for the information."

Malfoy simply shrugged.

"Night," she said with a nod.

"Night, Weasley."

Ginny turned on her heels, starting out of the corridor. She stopped only when she heard Malfoy say something from over her shoulder. As she turned to ask him what he had just said, she inhaled sharply and quickly reached for her wand inside her robes.

But Malfoy, who already had his wand out and at the ready, was too fast for her.

"Petrificus totalus!"

Ginny felt her body go cold and stiff, and she fell to the hard floor instantly. Even with her body immobile, she tried to will herself to move, to use her wand, to scream. Malfoy stepped up to her, placing his wand securely back inside his robes before kneeling down near her.

"Sorry, Ginny," he grinned. "Nothing personal. Just following orders."

In her head, Ginny could hear herself screaming curses in his direction, but her lips refused to work.

Malfoy studied her for a moment before finally getting to his feet. He slipped his arms under her rigid ones and slowly began to drag her down the corridor, trying to make as little noise as possible as he did so.

Inside, Ginny screamed for her brother, for Harry, for anyone to help her.

----------

Lucius Malfoy waited outside in the black of the night, near the whomping willow. He glanced at his watch before adjusting his dark robes. In the distance, he could see his son approaching, and it seemed that for once, the boy had done as told and done the job properly.

Malfoy finally made it to his father, Ginny in tow and still under the petrifying spell. With an exaggerated sigh, he carefully placed Ginny on the ground at his father's feet.

"Do I finally get to know the plan now?" Malfoy asked.

Lucius glanced down at the girl with a disapproving sneer. He turned his gaze back to his son as he spoke. "That plan has nothing to do with you, Draco. If the Dark Lord wanted you to know, you would."

"I think I should know," the younger Malfoy replied defiantly.

"I think you should watch your tone," Lucius snapped. "In the next coming days, things will happen. Things of great importance. You will know nothing, is that understood?"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes before responding. "Yes, father."

Lucius nodded. "Go back to your tower and forget this meeting occurred."

"Fine."

Throwing his father a hateful glare, Malfoy started back towards the castle. He turned to look over his shoulder only once to see Lucius use a levitating spell on Ginny and disappear into the darkness of the night.

-----------

(I realize this is an evil evil place to end a chapter, but I hope to have the next one up in a few days. Promise.)


	6. Tourniquet

Chapter Title: Tourniquet  
Rating: PG-13 (angst alert!)  
Summary: With Ginny missing, Harry and his friends try to find her before it's too late.  
A/N: This chapter is long (about 17 pages) which is mainly because I'm leaving town for a few weeks and won't be able to write for a while. But as soon as I'm back, I'll be getting back into the swing of things. Thanks again for reading and responding!!

"I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal  
I'm dying praying bleeding and screaming  
Am I too lost to be saved?  
Am I too lost?"

-- "Tourniquet" by Evanescence

---------

Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood in the Gryffindor common room, watching another small group of girls come down the stairs and exit the portrait hole. Ron checked his watch, his stomach growling.

"You know," Ron grumbled, "Ginny's tardiness is starting to get annoying."

"She did plan to come with us, right?" Harry asked, glancing at Hermione. "To see Dumbledore?"

"I thought so." Hermione frowned, handing Harry her schoolbag. "I'll go see if she's overslept."

"Tell her I don't plan to miss breakfast because of her!" Ron yelled to Hermione as she disappeared up the staircase. He shook his head, crossing his arms. "I wish she'd get over whatever it is that's been making her act so strange lately."

Harry simply nodded, glancing towards the girls' staircase with a slight frown.

When Hermione returned, she came down the stairs alone, a worrisome look on her face. Harry was the first to notice her disposition.

"What?" he asked.

"She's not in her room."

"Then where is she?" Ron asked, his earlier annoyance with his sister drifting towards concern.

"Her roommates last saw her when she said she'd be studying in the library. She probably just fell asleep studying last night," Hermione reasoned. "You two go ahead to breakfast, and I'll get Ginny. We can see Dumbledore before our first class."

She retrieved her bag from Harry and quickly made her way out of the common room. Once she was gone, Ron and Harry shared a look, Ron shrugging his shoulders a bit. "Ginny must be really freaking out about OWLs."

"She's taking cues from Hermione," Harry laughed quietly as he and Ron walked through the portrait hole.

"Well, that can't be good," Ron smirked.

---------

Ginny awoke with a start, a nightmare haunting her. Her head pounded, and only when she made a move to massage her temples did she realize that the nightmare she had opened her eyes to escape was actually a reality. Her wrists bound behind her back and her ankles tied together as well, Ginny struggled against the ropes, trying to pull herself free. Her eyes shot to every corner of the dimly lit room in which she sat. She didn't recognize the place, but she knew it was a place she didn't want to be right now.

As she continued to struggle against her binding, she debated screaming out but found herself hesitating. Screaming could bring someone to her aid, but then again, screaming could also bring her captors. Was that a chance she really wanted to take?

She sat still for a moment, listening to the stillness of the house around her.

Her decision made, she let out a high-pitched scream. She stopped only when her lungs screamed for oxygen. Taking deep breaths, she listened for the stillness of the house to change. Footsteps. Yells. Any sign of life, of movement, other than her own.

After a few moments of her own breathing being the only sound, she heard faint footsteps. All thoughts of breathing left Ginny's mind as the door to the room pushed open. She saw nothing but dark robes until a pale hand reached up and pushed back the hood that hid their face.

"I know you," Ginny heard herself say.

She wasn't as gaunt-looking as the last time they had crossed paths, her face more full, but Ginny knew that she would never forget this woman's face.

Bellatrix Lestrange sneered at her. "Yes, you do, little girl. Did you think we'd never see each other again?"

"I had hoped," Ginny spit back, frowning.

She struggled a bit to free her hands as Bellatrix hovered over her. "That's quite pointless, you realize," the woman laughed. "The struggling. The screaming. All of it."

"What do you want from me?" Ginny finally asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Bellatrix knelt next to Ginny, pulling her wand from inside her robes. "We want nothing from you," she said, jabbing Ginny hard in the shoulder with the end of her wand. "We want what the Dark Lord wants, and he wants Potter."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"Because widdle baby Potter enjoys playing the hero, we know he'll come for you."

"Harry's not that stupid," Ginny replied, swallowing hard. "He'll realize it's a trick."

"He will, but he'll still come," the woman smiled, nodding. "Because he thinks he has what it takes to take on the Dark Lord and win. His arrogance will be his downfall."

Ginny scowled. "His bravery will be _your_ downfall."

Bellatrix smiled and stood. "So loyal and so stupid." She took a few steps back before casually pointing her wand at Ginny. "Crucio!"

The scream that Ginny had let loose earlier was nothing in comparison to the one that passed from her lips now. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire, the pain was so severe. The pounding of her head was excruciatingly loud against her eardrums, and it felt as if at any moment, her skull would split in two. Her eyes squeezed together tight, she couldn't see when Bellatrix finally lowered her wand. But the diminishing pain, leaving way for severe tingling from head to toe, made her realize the assault to her body was over. Suddenly exhausted, she slumped over onto her side, her body trembling.

"That was nothing, little girl," she heard Bellatrix say over the pounding in her ears.

Ginny simply opened her eyes, the side of her head against the dirty floor.

"Make noise again, and you shall get worse."

Ginny blinked away tears but said nothing. Bellatrix smiled at her before turning on her heels and walking out of the room. She pulled the door closed, and Ginny heard the familiar sound of a lock sliding into place before she lost consciousness.

---------

Ron had started on his second helping of eggs, and Harry still on his first, when Hermione finally joined them. The worrisome look that Harry had seen on her face earlier had now been replaced by something more urgent, more scared.

She carried a second bag that Harry instantly recognized as Ginny's and laid it upon the table, not taking a seat. Seeing the bag himself, Ron stopped chewing and looked up at Hermione with slightly wide eyes. He mumbled something through his mouthful of food that Harry could only assume was "where's my sister?"

Reading along the same lines as Harry, Hermione frowned even more deeply at Ron's muffled question. "She's missing."

"What?" was all Harry could manage as his best friend struggled to swallow his food without further chewing.

"What do you mean missing?!" Ron finally asked with an empty mouth.

Hermione nodded to the schoolbag. "I checked all over the library. I checked the girls' dormitory again. I checked all the loos." She shook her head. "Nothing. All I found was her bag in the library."

"Ginny's not missing," Ron replied with a shake of his own head, as if stating it would make Hermione's conclusion untrue. "She's just-- she's skiving off classes. She stressed herself out so much with OWLs that she just decided to take a break." He paused with an unsure nod. "That's all."

Harry and Hermione shared a look before Hermione turned sympathetically to Ron. "Ron, I… I don't think she's skiving off classes."

Harry didn't hear his friend's attempt at a response as he glanced over at the Ravenclaw table. Luna sat off by herself, reading her Quibbler as she drank her juice. Without thinking, he quickly stood and made his way over to the table.

If anyone knew anything about where Ginny would have gone, it would be Luna. She hung out with Ginny more than Harry, Ron and Hermione did. She had to know something they didn't.

"Hey, Luna," Harry said, ignoring the odd looks he received from other Ravenclaws (and a few Slytherins at that) as he stood next to the girl.

She looked up from her paper with a smile. "Morning, Harry." Her smile faded a bit as she studied him. "Something wrong?"

Harry nodded. "Have you seen Ginny?"

Luna blinked, taken aback by the question. She glanced over at the Gryffindor table, noting the empty seat that Ginny normally occupied. She turned back to Harry with a frown. "She's not here."

Harry wasn't sure if she had meant it as a statement or a question, but he shook his head anyway. "Hermione found her bag in the library."

"That's where I last spoke with her," Luna replied, her usual airy tone replaced with concern. "We were doing our Potions assignment together, and it was getting late. I left, but Ginny said she wanted to stay for a bit longer." There was a beat, and when Luna spoke again, the concern in her voice was even more evident. "She didn't return to the tower last night?"

"Doesn't seem that way, no."

"That's not like Ginny."

"No," Harry frowned, "it's not."

Harry couldn't help but think of the last time Ginny had gone missing. Then she had been drug into the Chamber of Secrets by the basilisk, and Harry couldn't help but feel the same amount of fear for her and her safety now that he had felt that night.

"I need to tell Dumbledore," he thought aloud.

"I'll come with you," Luna said, quickly gathering her Quibbler and shoving it inside her schoolbag.

He nodded, and he and Luna made their way to the Gryffindor table where it seemed Ron had finally let go of his denial. "Harry," his best friend said, getting to his feet. "If Ginny's hurt…."

"She's not," Harry countered even as his insides twisted in disagreement. "We need to tell Dumbledore; he'll know what to do."

Silent agreement fell over the group as they walked out of the Great Hall.

---------

"Professor Dumbledore?"

Harry walked into Dumbledore's office, trailed by Luna, Hermione, and Ron. Dumbledore sat at his desk and looked up to see the students approaching. He smiled warmly at them as he clasped his hands over the book he had been reading.

"Shouldn't you be enjoying breakfast?" he asked with that same warm smile.

"Yeah, well…."

Harry looked at each of his friends, frowning. Ron looked paler than normal while even Hermione looked like she was on the verge of being sick from nerves. Luna, however, simply watched Dumbledore as she gently stroked Fawkes on his perch.

"Ginny Weasley is missing, Professor."

Dumbledore watched him carefully. "Missing?"

"She never returned to the tower last night," Harry replied with a nod. "Hermione looked for her this morning and couldn't find her."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said, standing. "I shall have Filch and a few Professors, myself included, look into it, Harry."

"You don't think anything is wrong, do you?" Ron piped up from over Harry's shoulder.

Dumbledore smiled gently at Ron as he spoke. "I'm quite certain your sister will be found safe and sound. This happens a lot around the fifth year. Students become overly anxious about the upcoming exams and look for time to themselves." He gave Harry and his friends a determined nod. "Ginny will be fine, and we will quickly locate her. Now, you four run along to class before you're tardy, and I will start what is necessary to find Ginny."

Everyone lingered for a moment, Hermione the first to leave as she gently took Ron's wrist and pulled him away with her. Luna looked to Harry, and he almost expected her to stay behind with him. But she simply gave him a sad smile, stroked Fawkes' feathers one last time, and strolled away.

"Something else on your mind, Harry?" Dumbledore asked as he and Harry stood alone in the room.

Harry hesitated before finally nodding. "There's been… The Daily Prophet…."

"Ah yes," Dumbledore said, sighing and taking his seat behind his desk. "The murders."

"Yeah," he frowned. "Is it Voldemort?"

"I wish I had a definitive answer to your question, Harry," he replied, his old eyes losing some of the twinkle Harry had grown accustomed to. "But I don't. All I can tell you is that The Order is looking into each and every aspect."

Harry sighed, frustrated. He was tired of the runaround. All he wanted was a simple yes or no.

"But do _you_ think it's him?"

There was a moment where Dumbledore said nothing, simply studied Harry, and Harry braced himself for another vague response. But there was nothing vague in the words that followed the silence.

"Yes, I do believe it's him." Dumbledore nodded. "It bears all the markings of his work, the work of his followers."

Harry swallowed hard, fearing the next question that lingered in his mind. "Ginny…. She's been targeted by him before…."

"This is true, but Voldemort would not be silly enough to try another go within the walls of Hogwarts."

"So you don't think Ginny's disappearance…?"

Dumbledore stood and approached Harry. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I think Ginny's disappearance will be quickly solved, and she will be back at the Gryffindor table before you even realize she was gone." He gave Harry's shoulder a squeeze. "Now do run along, Harry, before Professor Snape gives you a detention for being tardy."

Harry nodded, frowning a bit at the mention of Snape. He started out of the room, and then quickly turned back to Dumbledore. "Professor, when you find Ginny…."

"You and your friends will be the first to know," Dumbledore finished with a gentle nod of his head.

Harry nodded again before finally making his way out of the office. When he exited the staircase, he almost expected to see Hermione and Ron there, eager to hear what he had discussed with Dumbledore in their absence. However, they weren't there as he expected, but Luna stood a few feet from the staircase, gazing at a portrait of deer as they ran from one point of the frame and disappeared beyond the other edge.

"Luna?" he asked, stepping up to her. "You're still here?"

She turned to him with a nod. "Hermione and Ronald went ahead to class. They said they'd meet you there."

"Why didn't you just go ahead?" he asked, genuinely curious as to why she was still standing around.

"Because it's not always a good idea to leave people alone with their fears," she stated casually, glancing back at the picture to see if the deer would come running by again.

"I'm not afraid," he lied.

"You don't think Ginny's okay," she countered.

He opened his mouth to protest but found he couldn't argue against the truth. Instead, he opted to shift the conversation. "Neither do you."

"Well, no," Luna said, a frown forming on her delicate features. "But _I_ admit to that fear. You don't always have to be a stoic, you know."

"I'm not trying to be a stoic."

Luna studied him with a tilt of her head. "Ginny will be found," she finally said.

Harry frowned even deeper. "Yeah, but the question is when."

"Did you ever hear of Julia Wingdinger?"

Harry blinked, slightly taken aback. "Um, no."

"She spent ten years looking for Heliopaths," Luna said, turning her eyes back to the portrait as a lone deer frolicked by. "Turns out she had found them years before but never realized it."

"Okay," Harry replied cautiously, still trying to follow her train of thought.

"Ginny will be found because we want to find her. Because we need to," Luna said, turning her gaze back to Harry. "She may be right under our noses the entire time, but we will find her. It doesn't matter when we find her but _that_ we find her."

Harry nodded slowly in understanding.

Luna glanced down at her watch. "I'm late for Care of Magical Creatures."

Harry looked to his own watch and groaned. "Potions." He sighed. "I'd be better off skiving the class than showing up late. Then again, he'd probably take away points for _that_ the next time I had class."

Luna searched the pockets of her robes and then pulled out a small candy, handing it to Harry with a slight smile. Harry raised an eyebrow as he turned the candy over in the palm of his hand. "What's this?"

"From my skiving snackbox . Take it now, and you should have an unusual nosebleed by the time you reach the hospital wing." She smiled brighter. "Madam Pomfey would be glad to inform your professors of why you had to miss class."

"You have a skiving snackbox?" Harry asked, amused and stunned.

"Just for the rare occasion when I'll need it."

Harry debated for a moment before unwrapping the candy and popping it into his mouth. "Thanks," he grinned.

Luna shrugged it off and adjusted the slipping strap of her school bag back onto her shoulder. "We _will_ find Ginny, Harry," she said seriously.

"I know," he replied quietly, still uncertain.

She nodded and gave him a small wave before making her way down the corridor. Harry watched her disappear around a corner before heading in the opposite direction and towards the hospital wing.

---------

By the time dinner in the Great Hall was being served, most people in the school knew about Ginny's disappearance. Harry could hear the whispered conversations as he, Hermione, and Ron made their way to the Gryffindor table.

Harry had missed all his classes prior to lunch thanks to Luna's candy, and he was glad because there would have been no way for him to concentrate through lecture after lecture. Not with Ginny disappearing into thin air. Not with his thoughts still lingering on all the deaths recently. And definitely not with Dumbledore himself admitting that he felt there was a connection between Voldemort and the deaths.

After lunch, the classes and lectures had been a blur. None of them were in any shape to concentrate on anything. Even Hermione, who normally scored perfect points on everything she did in Transfiguration, couldn't quite master turning her bird into a vase. Unlike Snape (who, Harry had heard, had taken points from both Ron _and_ Hermione for being tardy), Professor McGonagall had understood their distance and had not punished them for their forthcomings during the lecture.

Now as the day had faded away to night and they gathered at the dinner table, none of them still felt up to par. Dumbledore had not said a word to them about Ginny or the search for her since that morning. In fact, they hadn't seen him around at all since their early morning meeting.

"You should really eat something, Ron," Hermione said from beside him. "You didn't eat anything at lunch."

Ron stared at his plate as if at any moment it would attack. He shook his head and began to poke at it with his fork.

Hermione looked to Harry pleadingly, but Harry didn't know what to say or do. If Harry believed things were feeling off-balance for him right now, it was probably a hundred times worse for Ron. Ginny was his little sister after all, and as much as Ron would argue to the contrary, he cared for her more than anything and would do anything to protect her like the big brother he was.

But he couldn't protect her this time.

Hermione sighed quietly and began to prod her own food. Harry watched his two best friends, his frown deepening as his insides began to twist into sickening knots again. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but found it was not necessary as Luna took that moment to break through their depressing reverie.

"Care if I join you?"

Everyone looked up to see Luna standing at their table. She smiled politely at them as each of them studied her with their own expression-- Hermione confusion, Ron bewilderment, and Harry relief.

"Sure," he finally said and Luna smiled and took the empty seat beside him.

Harry glanced over his shoulder to see a few students at the Ravenclaw table looking on with the same bewilderment and confusion that Ron and Hermione had been showing moments earlier. It wasn't everyday that a student from a fellow house decided to break convention and eat with a rival table. Then again, it wasn't every day that "Loony" Lovegood sat down with the infamous Harry Potter and his friends either.

"How are you, Ronald?" she asked.

For a moment, Harry thought Ron was going to say something bitter and sarcastic. Instead his best friend simply shook his head and muttered "I'm here" in response.

Luna nodded, frowning slightly, but she did not push the issue further.

Everyone ate in silence, with the exception of Ron who seemed to be more intent on making art with his plate than eating it, until Luna turned to Harry mid-dessert. "Oh, I meant to ask if the skiving snack worked."

"Yeah," he replied with a slight smile. "I'm glad I took it from the way Snape deducted points from Hermione and Ron this morning. I'm not sure our house would have been able to handle the number of points he would have taken away if I had shown up even later."

"He's not a very pleasant man, is he?"

"That's quite the understatement, Luna," Hermione said before taking a bite from her rhubarb pie. Ron only nodded in agreement.

Before Luna could reply, a distinct cawing sound filled the air. All the students fell silent as a giant raven came swooping into the Great Hall. Some pointed at the bird as it passed while others simply watched in confusion. Harry and his friends watched the bird as it swooped over to the Gryffindor table and sailed perfectly down the long table until it found who it needed. It stopped right on top of the pie sitting between Harry and his friends, placing its scaly feet in their dessert as if it had no care in the world. It cawed loudly again as Harry shared a confused look with each of his friends.

Luna reached out to remove the note attached to its leg, but it cawed loudly again and pecked at her. She quickly withdrew her hand with a quiet exclaim of shock. She frowned at the bird as she looked at the back of her hand, a small line of blood beginning to seep from the cut in her skin.

"Ravens are very nasty creatures," she said bitterly to the bird.

Harry handed her a napkin to hold to her hand before staring at the bird and making a tentative move to remove the message himself. He braced himself to be pecked by the sharp beak just as Luna had been, but found himself surprised when he was able to successfully remove the message from around the bird's leg without incident.

"He must be protecting the message from anyone who's not the person it's addressed to," Hermione said quietly from the other side of the bird.

The raven stretched its wings and with a final ear-piercing caw took off. Every eye in the Great Hall was on the bird as it disappeared into the night, and an excited chatter fell over the Hall as the students quickly began whispering to each other about the mysterious message delivered by raven.

"Well?" Hermione asked as Harry simply studied the note. Even Ron, who had seemed to have lost interest in anything and everything, was giving Harry his full attention. "Do you plan to open it?"

"Who sends messages by raven?" Harry wondered aloud as he flipped the message over in his hands, still not opening it.

Luna dabbed at her hand one last time, her voice ethereal over the excited chatter surrounding them. "Ravens are omens of death and darkness."

When Luna looked up from her bloody napkin, three pairs of eyes were on her. She gave them a quizzical look as she continued. "They are. They say that whenever you see a raven, death is near. Only someone with faith in darkness would send a message by raven."

Harry frowned, dropping his voice so that the people listening in wouldn't be able to hear. "Someone like Voldemort."

Luna nodded slowly. "Someone like that indeed."

Harry stared down at the note in his hands, suddenly becoming acutely aware of all the eyes watching him and all the ears straining to hear. He finally looked up at his friends. "I can't read this here."

"Then where exactly?" Hermione asked. "There aren't exactly a lot of places we can go and not be watched."

"There's one." Harry stood, sliding the note inside his robes. He walked out, Luna, Hermione, and Ron following, and he could hear his name whispered a few times as he passed by the other students.

---------

The Room of Requirement was right where he remembered it being. He opened the door and allowed his friends to enter first before stepping inside himself. He securely locked the door and turned to look at the room. It wasn't set up like it had been so many times for their DA meetings the previous term. There was no desk. No bookshelves filled with book after book on jinxes and counterjinxes. No cushions on the floor.

Instead, it contained all they needed. Four cushy chairs that formed a circle in the center of the room. Hermione, Ron, and Luna had already taken their seats when Harry joined them, pulling the note from his school robes.

He inhaled deeply before ripping into the envelope and pulling out the message within. He barely noticed his friends studying him as he read the fragmented message scrawled in messy black cursive.

****

Weasley. Shrieking Shack. Come tonight.

"Well?" Hermione asked, leaning in her chair to get a look.

"Harry?" Ron asked.

Luna simply watched him cautiously.

Harry swallowed hard, his emotions tugging between blinding anger and overwhelming fear. "He has Ginny."

Hermione gave an audible gasp as Ron blinked at him. Luna leaned over in her own chair to see the words for herself.

"He…." Ron blinked again, trying to find his voice. "Ginny?"

Luna took the note from Harry's hands, studying it with a frown.

Hermione looked from Harry to Ron and then to Harry again. "We need to tell Dumbledore. Now."

"No," Harry replied with a determined shake of his head.

"NO?!" Ron yelled.

"If Dumbledore shows up, he'll just…." Harry struggled with the words. "He'll kill her. He wants me to show up."

"So you're just going to give him what he wants?!" Hermione asked, incredulous.

"It's the only way to bring Ginny back alive," Harry said, getting to his feet.

"Or get both of you killed in the process!" Hermione replied, trying her best to reason with him. "Harry, if we tell Dumbledore, he can tell The Order and they can--"

"They can what, Hermione?" Harry asked, feeling his temper begin to rise. "They can rush in and fight Voldemort off one more time? And then what, Hermione? He comes back, and he does it again. He takes you or Ron or Luna and uses you as a bargaining chip instead."

"But, Harry," Hermione said, getting to her feet, "The Order--they have a better chance of defeating him and the Death Eaters than we do. They've fought them before. Last year."

"You just don't get it, Hermione," he snapped angrily, fully aware of the cautious step back from him she took. "They can't do it! They can't kill Voldemort! It has to be me!"

Hermione gave a careful shake of her head, confused. "No, Harry, it doesn't. That's just what Voldemort wants you to believe."

"No, it's the way it is," he replied, his anger reaching a level he hadn't felt in over a year. "He dies or I die. It's that damn simple!"

Hermione seemed to be at a loss for words, and her sudden silence did nothing to quell the simmering anger in the pit of Harry's stomach. She didn't get it. None of them got it. He didn't _want_ to keep putting his own life on the line, his friends' lives. But that was just how it was. He didn't have a choice in the matter.

With a frustrated growl, he stormed out of the room, hoping to just get some air and be away from the perplexed looks he was getting from Ron and Hermione.

"What the bloody hell was he talking about?" Ron asked as Hermione stared after the door Harry had just slammed shut.

"The prophecy," Luna said, still studying the message in her hand and running a finger back and forth over the dried ink.

Hermione and Ron instantly turned to her. "What prophecy?" Hermione asked.

Luna looked up, a slightly stunned expression on her face. "I thought you knew."

"Knew what?!" Ron asked, annoyed.

"Harry learned of a prophecy last year," Luna said, watching them with wide eyes. "That either Lord Voldemort dies, or he does. Harry must either kill him or be killed by him for the second war to come to an end."

Hermione sat down slowly at Luna's words. Ron opened his mouth but no sound escaped his lips. Luna watched them for a moment before turning her attention back to the card in her hand. "I thought the Shrieking Shack was haunted," she said to no one in particular.

"I can't believe he didn't tell us," Hermione finally said, ignoring Luna's last remark.

"I can't believe he told _you_," Ron replied, raising an eyebrow in Luna's direction.

Luna looked up at him but did not say anything in response.

"I should probably go get him," Hermione sighed, getting to her feet again.

"I wouldn't," Luna stated matter-a-factly as she watched Hermione.

Hermione threw the younger girl an incredulous look. "Well, I'm glad to hear that it's not something _you_ would do, but_ I _won't let him sit out there and let his anger build."

"That's the reason he left. It does a temper well to get away from the things that are getting a rise out of you. Even if it is only for a few moments." Luna added with a nod, "He'll come back."

"How are you so sure?" Hermione asked, unable to hide her irritation with the young Ravenclaw at the moment.

"Because he knows there are more important things right now than feeding his own anger." She paused, frowning. "Like getting Ginny back."

As if on cue, Harry pushed the door open and returned, locking the door behind himself again. Hermione was the first to speak. "Harry, I didn't know…. About the prophecy."

"I know you didn't," he replied sharply. Hermione nodded and returned to her seat, watching him carefully.

Harry continued to stand, watching his friends. He had reeled in his anger as much as he could, but at the moment, he couldn't help but feel that anger would be his driving force tonight.

"I'm going," he stated. "To Hogsmeade. By myself."

"No!"

This time it was Ron who had jumped to his feet to argue.

"Ron," Harry sighed.

"No, Harry, I'm coming with you. Ginny's my sister, and I'm not just gonna sit around and wait for you to bring her back."

Harry studied his best friend and knew that there was no way he could say no. "Okay," he said with a slow nod.

"If Ron goes, I go!" Hermione declared, standing.

Harry was about to argue when Luna then stood. "I feel I owe it to Ginny to go," she said.

Harry looked at each of them, a mixture of pride to have them as friends and fear that their loyalty would be the end of them all.

Harry finally gave in. "Fine, looks like it's a mission for four."

"When do we go?" Hermione asked.

"Now."

Everyone simply looked at each other in response.

---------

Ginny opened her eyes as a chill passed through her body. She shivered, her teeth chattering, before finally sitting up.

"Have a pleasant nap, little girl?"

Ginny turned her head quickly towards the doorway, where Bellatrix stood, leaning against the frame. With the dark robes, she nearly blended into the blackness of the hallway itself.

"Stop calling me that," Ginny said through gritted teeth.

"Manners, manners, little girl," Bellatrix grinned. "You know, it's your own fault you're here. You lot are far too trusting."

"Malfoy," Ginny snarled, tugging a bit at her arms and hoping for some looseness of the binding.

"Maybe next time you won't let your hormones take over, huh?" Bellatrix lazily pushed herself from the doorway. "Of course, that all depends on whether or not there _is_ a next time for you, doesn't it?"

Ginny watched the woman, her body suddenly feeling colder than it previously had. She swallowed hard to keep her voice from betraying her. "They'll find me, you know. And they'll curse each and every one of you and your Death Eater friends."

Bellatrix laughed darkly. "So naïve."

"And then Harry will finally kill your precious Dark Lord," Ginny continued, her fear giving rise to anger as she struggled more against her bindings. "And I hope he makes you watch."

Bellatrix's laughter died, and she quickly turned on Ginny, her wand drawn. "CRUCIO!"

Ginny screamed like she had never screamed before.

---------

Harry held the cellar door open as each of his friends climbed out of the tunnel that led into the cellar of Honeydukes. "How did you find out about this?" Hermione asked as she dusted herself off.

"Fred and George," he replied, carefully pulling the cellar door back into place.

He took a look around before climbing the stairs, the others following suit. When they reached the front door of Honeydukes, Harry unlocked it from the inside, and they all stepped out into the bitter autumn night.

"What if there are Death Eaters?" Ron asked as Harry led the way towards the Shrieking Shack.

"All those curses I taught you last year?" Harry asked, glancing over at his shoulder at his best friend. "Use them and use them without hesitation."

Ron nodded, gripping his wand even tighter at his side.

"We're walking right into a trap, you realize," Luna said from Harry's side. Her own wand was already drawn and ready, much like Harry's.

Harry frowned and nodded. "I realize."

"What if Ginny isn't here?" Hermione asked from her spot at Ron's side.

"She is," Harry declared, his gaze still focused ahead where he could see the Shrieking Shack coming into view. "She has to be."

Harry remembered the last time he had been in the Shrieking Shack. It had been the first time he had set eyes on Sirius, the man he thought had betrayed and killed his parents. It had been the first time he had learned the truth and had come face to face with Peter Pettigrew, the real betrayer. It had been the first time he had felt real failure as he watched Pettigrew get away into the night before Harry could do a thing about it.

Harry couldn't fail like that tonight.

"What now?"

Harry broke from his thoughts at Ron's question. He hadn't even realized that they were now standing in front of the shack.

Harry studied the shack for a moment, trying to form a game-plan in his head. He turned to his friends with a nod. "Hermione, Ron, you'll search the first floor. Curse anything and anyone who crosses your path."

Hermione and Ron nodded.

"Luna and I will take the second floor. Whoever finds Ginny first, let the others know."

"How?" Hermione asked.

"Um, I don't know. Yell…something."

"Weasley is our king," Luna offered with a smile.

Everyone looked at her, and then Harry nodded. "Yell— " He pointed at Luna. "—that."

"Be careful, guys," Hermione frowned.

"You too." Harry opened the door and glanced back over his shoulder at his friends before entering the darkness of the shack.

---------

Harry walked carefully through the darkened hallway, and he could feel Luna close to his side. He didn't care for this at all. They had yet to run into anyone. Yet to hear a sound that was not made by them. Yet to stumble into the trap that they had been so certain they had walked into.

This was just too easy.

"I don't care for this," Luna whispered, apparently reading his mind.

"Me either." He frowned over at her. "Just don't let your guard down."

Luna nodded, her wand arm still tense and ready to throw a curse at the drop of a hat.

They approached the only room on the second floor, the same room Harry had been in two years prior. He hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. Luna stood quietly by his side for a moment before finally speaking. "Harry?"

He glanced over at her, locking eyes, before finally twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open.

"Lumos," Luna said quietly from his side, her wand illuminating around them.

With what little light her wand emitted, Harry could see the form on the floor. When the light from Luna's wand reflected off the red hair of the figure, Harry's heart leapt into his throat. He quickly ran over to Ginny, calling out to her.

"Ginny?"

She lay quietly on her side, her wrists and ankles bound. Dropping his wand to the floor, Harry began to pull the ropes from around her wrists. "Ginny, you okay?" he asked between excited breaths.

"Harry," Luna spoke quietly from over his shoulder.

Harry ignored her and grabbed Ginny's shoulder to gently turn her onto her back. The exhilarated smile that had been on his face quickly faded away.

Ginny stared blankly up at him with dull eyes, her mouth frozen open in a silent scream.

"She's not…." He shook his head, not able to finish the sentence.

Luna knelt beside him, and he watched her pale hand lay across Ginny's even paler throat. Her fingers gently touched and kneaded where Ginny's jugular would be. When Luna pulled her hand away, he didn't need to hear her say the words.

His body numb, Harry only realized he had been holding his breath when his lungs began to burn. He began to breathe heavily and found himself on the verge of hyperventilating.

He'd failed again, and this time, it had cost him not only a friend, but it had cost his best friend a sister.

"Harry," Luna said, getting to her feet.

Harry remained where he was, his gaze still fixed on Ginny's lifeless form. He barely noticed as the light of Luna's wand shifted to a different spot a few feet away from the redhead's body.

"Harry!" she said again, more urgently.

"What?" he finally heard himself ask, his eyes never leaving Ginny.

"They left a message for you."

Harry looked up at her then. "What?"

Luna nodded towards where she illuminated the floor with her wand. Harry stood and moved to stand next to her, looking down at the floor. Written across the floor in what looked like black paint, a message had been left behind.

****

Can't save them all.

Harry read the message, and all the anger he had been feeling earlier in the night returned ten-fold. He screamed, Luna jumping slightly.

He wanted to break something. He wanted to kill something. He wanted Voldemort to feel all the pain he had brought to Harry all these years.

But at the moment, all he could do was yell with his fists clenched angrily in front of him.

"Harry," Luna said calmly as he stopped his yelling to take a breath. "We need to tell Ronald and Hermione."

Hearing that made something click inside Harry, and the anger quickly dissipated to guilt. He locked eyes with Luna again as he inhaled deeply. "God, Ron."

"You find him, and I'll stay with her."

Luna stepped around Harry and knelt beside Ginny. He watched as Luna gently reached a hand out and smoothed it over Ginny's face, closing the girl's eyes. With the same gentleness, she lifted Ginny's chin until her mouth was no longer in a silent scream. Until she looked at peace.

Luna looked up at him, and even in the dimly lit room, he could see that the girl was crying despite her calm exterior. She made a motion with her hand as if to shoo Harry away.

"Find him before he finds us."

Harry nodded and quickly ran out of the room.

He didn't have to go far to run into Ron and Hermione. They were making their way up the staircase as he was making his way down, all three panting.

"We heard the screams!" Hermione said, looking more scared than Harry had ever seen her look.

"Are you guys alright?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "We're--we're fine."

"What was the screaming about?"

Harry hesitated, looking down.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"We found Ginny," he said, finally looking up at them.

A look of relief came over Ron's face that only pained Harry more. "Is she okay?"

Harry could only shake his head, trying to think of how to even say the words. Before Harry even had the chance, Ron pushed by him, running up the remaining stairs.

"Ron!" he called out and made a move to run after his friend but a hand held him back. He looked down to see Hermione holding onto him.

"Harry, is Ginny…?"

She didn't even need to finish the sentence because he knew how it was going to end. Harry simply nodded, and Hermione's hand moved from his arm to her mouth. She looked on the verge of tears, but Harry didn't know what to say or do. All he could do was take her gently by the arm and lead her up the staircase.

When they finally made their way to the room, his heart gave another painful lurch in his chest. Luna stood near the doorway, her arms wrapped around herself as she looked on. Ron sat on the dirty floor, his sister's body cradled in his lap, as he silently cried. From over his shoulder, Harry heard Hermione make an unrecognizable sound. His whole attention focused on Ron, he hardly noticed as Luna made her way past him and to Hermione--the younger girl taking Hermione into a crying hug.

His insides still twisting, the whole world seemed to fade away into nothing but the sound of his three friends crying.

---------

The walk back to Hogwarts was the longest, most dreadful experience of Harry's life. Not willing to leave Ginny's body behind for someone else to bring back, Harry had carried the girl the entire way. Hermione and Luna had trailed behind him, the girls at some new level of understanding, as they held hands as they walked. Ron walked beside them, his hands shoved into his pockets and his eyes on the ground, Hermione glancing sadly at him as they walked.

Once they arrived back at the castle, Harry ordered the others to return to the tower and that he would meet them in the common room. Still carrying Ginny's body, Harry made his way to the staircase to Dumbledore's office. It was late, but Harry had a feeling that the Headmaster was still up working, even at this hour. Harry took a breath to calm his voice before uttering the password. The statue spiraled away, revealing the staircase, and Harry carefully stepped onto the stairs as they began to spiral up.

He stepped into the office, ignoring the burning in his arms from carrying Ginny for so long. "Professor?"

Professor Dumbledore stepped from behind his desk. "Harry, what are--?"

Dumbledore's words froze as he finally laid eyes on Harry. He stood perfectly still for a moment before quickly making his way to Harry. "Harry, what happened?"

"_He_ happened," Harry spat, feeling his anger rising to the surface again.

Dumbledore stared at him, awaiting an explanation.

"He sent me a message tonight. Told me where I could find her." He swallowed hard, looking down at the limp body in his arms. "And I found her."

"Harry, why didn't you tell me this? I could have gathered The Order."

"It wouldn't have made a difference," Harry growled with a shake of his head. "It wasn't a rescue mission, Professor. He never intended it to be one."

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes drifting to Ginny's pale face.

"He left a message for me with her." Harry swallowed hard again as the pain in his arms intensified. "He wanted to show me that I can't save everyone I care for."

Dumbledore watched as Harry gently placed Ginny on the floor between them. "Harry…."

"And he's right." Harry stood, his gaze traveling from Ginny to Dumbledore. "I can't save them all. I can't, but I know what I need to do now. I understand what I need to do now."

"And what would that be, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, the concern evident on his face and in his voice.

Harry frowned deeply. "Make him regret the day he ever tried to kill me as a baby."

"Harry, you must think clearly about these things. You're outraged now, and with good reason, but this is _not_ the time to make decisions."

"I'm not making a decision. It's already been made." Harry glanced down at Ginny, his quiet anger still simmering. "He wants a second war, and I'll be more than happy to deliver him a second war."

Harry turned and walked out of Dumbledore's office, even as the Headmaster called out to him. Harry ignored the calls of his name as he stood on the staircase and waited for it to spiral down to the main floor.

The decision had been made.

Kill or be killed.

And for the first time that he could recall, Harry welcomed the thought of being a murderer.


	7. Imaginary

Series Title: The Fallen Series

Chapter Title: Imaginary

Author: Tonya

Rating: PG-13

Summary: The danger in the wizarding world escalates as the students try to deal with recent events.

A/N: Sorry about the length of time between chapters. I blame a bad case of writer's block and classes starting up. Thanks again for all your lovely feedback.

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__

"Don't say I'm out of touch

With this rampant chaos-- your reality

I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge

The nightmare I built my own world to escape "

-- "Imaginary" by Evanescence

----------

He didn't know what time it was, how long they had all been sitting in silence. But time didn't seem to matter anymore. At least not to them.

Ron sat on the floor near the fireplace, Hermione sitting beside him. He had only recently allowed any of them to come near him, to show him some form of comfort. When Harry had first returned to the common room, Ron had been in the far corner away from Hermione and Luna (who Hermione felt should not go alone to the Ravenclaw tower). Now, he had joined them in the center of the room, allowing Hermione to place a comforting arm around him. Luna sat on the couch, pulling distractedly on a loose strand of hair that had fallen from her long braid.

Harry, himself, couldn't sit. He paced back and forth behind the couch, occasionally looking towards the window when his gaze wasn't fixed on his three friends. He didn't want to sit because if he sat he'd have nothing to focus on but his thoughts. And his inner thoughts were not something he wanted to stew over at the moment.

Luna stopped tugging on her hair and turned slightly in her seat to watch him. He felt her eyes follow his every movement but said nothing. She, however, decided to speak. "Harry," she said in a hushed tone, "please sit."

Harry simply shook his head and continued to walk back and forth.

Luna slowly pulled herself from her seat and walked around the couch to him. She reached out and gently took hold of his wrist, making him stop his thought-free wandering. She spoke again in the same hushed tone, as if not to disturb Ron and Hermione. "Walking yourself to the point of exhaustion won't change anything."

Harry wanted to argue, but tonight, he didn't have it in him. He simply sighed and allowed Luna to drag him to the couch and force him to sit. Luna smiled sadly over at him with a gentle pat of his arm. For the first time since Harry could remember, he couldn't return what had always been an infectious smile from her. He raised his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. They burned with tiredness, but he didn't quite feel like sleeping at the moment.

He didn't quite feel like doing anything at the moment.

----------

Only when Harry awoke with a pain his neck from sleeping wrong, did he realize that he had fallen asleep. He groaned a bit and shifted in his seat, finding Luna's head resting against his shoulder. He glanced sideways at her but she did not stir. Hermione and Ron were sprawled out on the floor near the fireplace, her arm still around him, as if she was trying to shield him from all bad things.

He rubbed at his eyes and yawned, glancing towards the window. The sun was fully in the sky, and he could hear his fellow students shuffling about above them as they prepared for another day of classes.

Harry frowned deeply as he listened.

Life was continuing on for them as if nothing had changed. They would go to the Great Hall and indulge themselves in the warm breakfast. They would laugh and talk and gossip. They would go to each of their classes, and at the end of each, they would complain about the amount of homework they would be forced to do over the weekend.

They hadn't lost a friend, a sister. They hadn't carried her dead body back to Hogwarts in the darkness of the night. They hadn't had the kind of night he and his friends had had.

Nothing had changed for those people who moved about above them.

Everything, however, had changed for them.

Hermione was the first of the three to wake. She sat up slowly, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She gave Ron another sad glance before looking up to see that Harry was awake as well.

"What time is it?" she asked quietly, blinking slowly.

Harry crossed his arms, trying his best not to disturb Luna who continued to use him as a pillow. "Time to get ready for class."

Hermione shook her head, looking on the verge of tears again. "I can't."

"I know," Harry replied with an understanding nod. He hadn't intended on going to class today himself.

Hermione sniffled and quickly wiped at her eyes as the first round of students came down the stairs, talking happily amongst themselves. Harry didn't turn to look at them, but he could tell by how the tone of their conversation changed that they were staring at them. Probably trying to figure out why they had decided to sleep in the common room and why exactly a Ravenclaw was with them.

Luna awoke next, the sound of a girl giggling finally waking her from her deep sleep. She blinked and raised her head, looking apologetically at Harry. "Sorry."

Harry shrugged. "You weren't bothering me."

The three of them sat in a silence that was occasionally broken by fellow students as they made their way to breakfast or Ron's quiet snoring.

"What do we do now?" Luna finally asked.

Both Harry and Hermione looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?" Harry asked her.

"Are we supposed to go about our day as if it didn't happen?" she asked with a frown. "Because I'm not quite sure I can do that. Because no matter how we'll pretend, it won't be the same. Ginny still won't be here."

Hermione returned the girl's expression. "I don't think any of us can pretend, Luna."

Luna nodded and began to pick lint from her school robes.

"Do you think Dumbledore has told Mr. and Mrs. Weasley yet?" Hermione asked quietly, throwing a cautious look in Ron's direction.

Harry nodded slowly. "More than likely."

He didn't want to imagine that conversation or the pain the Weasleys probably felt as they were told their only daughter had been killed.

Harry stood as the image of the Weasleys, both overcome with shock and grief, burned itself into his subconscious. He didn't even realize he had started away from his friends and towards the exit until he heard Hermione call his name. He turned to see her and Luna both watching him with quizzical expressions.

A couple of second years he didn't recognize him gave him a peculiar look as they stepped around him to make their way to breakfast.

Harry continued to linger by the exit, his friends watching him. He had no idea where he had planned on going, but apparently his subconscious had planned to take him to that unknown destination whether he knew it or not. He finally found words as he watched Hermione and Luna share a worried look, both probably wondering about the state of his sanity at the moment.

"When Ron wakes up," he said, and both girls turned to his voice, "Go to the room of requirement."

Hermione looked more perplexed by this order. "But why?"

He wanted to scream that he couldn't stand to be in the common room right now. Scream that every emblem of maroon and gold, every decoration, every piece of furniture did nothing but remind him of blood. Of pain. Of Ginny.

But he didn't share that thought. He simply stated, "We won't be disturbed by other students there."

Hermione nodded in understanding.

Luna blinked at him. "And where will you be?"

Harry thought about that for a moment. "The kitchens," he finally settled on with a nod of his head. "To see if Dobby can get us some food."

He turned and walked out before either girl could say anything more.

----------

Harry circled the corridor for the third time, possibly the fourth. He had lost track sometime between thoughts of the previous night and thoughts of what was to come with the day. He had planned to go straight down to the kitchens like he had told Hermione and Luna, but on his way, all he could hear was the excited chatter of his fellow students. Their laughter. Their jokes. The smiles on their voices.

And he had had to reel in the urge not to curse every single one of them for being happy on such a day.

Fearing that he would do just that if he listened to their insistent sound any longer, he had wandered back to some of the more abandoned corridors within the school's walls, hoping that by the time he contained his rage, most of the students would be in the Great Hall stuffing their faces.

Feeling that he had perhaps stalled enough, he took a deep breath and began around a corner. Before he had gotten far, a hand reached from behind him and gently grabbed his shoulder. Nerves on edge, Harry turned quickly, his wand drawn.

"Perhaps I should have spoken." Luna stood before him, a parchment in her hands and the tip of Harry's wand resting over her heart.

"Luna," he sighed, his voice coming out more shaky than he had planned.

He wasn't sure what frightened him more, the previous moment when he had felt he was about to be attacked or now when he came to the realization that he had almost placed Luna on the receiving end of one of his curses.

"Sorry," he managed, slipping his wand back inside his robes. "What are you doing here?"

"Breakfast for four people can be quite a load," she replied. "I thought I would offer my assistance."

Harry nodded, that answer appeasing him until a new question rose in his mind. "But what are you doing here?"

"Hermione thought, rather correctly by the way, that you'd make a detour or two on your way to the kitchens. She fetched this from your room."

Luna handed him the parchment, and only then did Harry recognize it as his Marauder's map.

"It's quite the map," she said with a soft smile. "What do you use it for?"

"Staying out of trouble," he joked dryly. He placed the map inside his pocket. "We should head to the kitchens."

----------

Harry never thought of house-elves being strong creatures, but the vice-like grip that Dobby had on his legs at the present moment seemed to prove otherwise in his mind.

"Dobby has heard the news of Harry Potter's loss," the creature sobbed into Harry's robes. "Dobby wishes there was something he could do for Harry Potter."

"There's nothing you can do, Dobby," Harry replied, his words coming out much harder than he had liked.

Still clinging to Harry's legs, Dobby looked up with wide, tearful eyes. "And Harry Potter's Wheezy?"

Harry swallowed hard. "Ron's--" He searched for the proper word. "He's been better."

"Is there nothing at all Dobby can do?"

At this, Luna, who had been standing quietly beside Harry and taking everything in, knelt down to Dobby's level. He turned his giant house-elf eyes on her as she smiled pleasantly at him. "We were hoping you would be able to provide us with some breakfast." Her smile fell away as she continued. "We didn't feel it was right to sit in the Great Hall without our friend."

Dobby studied Luna for a moment before launching himself at her into a tearful hug. Luna let out a stunned yelp, and hugged the house-elf back with a soft laugh.

"Dobby can do that for Harry Potter and his pretty friend," Dobby sniffled into Luna's robes.

He let her go and scampered off to gather items for their breakfast.

Luna stood, a faint smile still on her lips as she turned to Harry. "He's very nice."

Harry nodded. "He tried to kill me in second year."

Luna blinked.

"With a rogue bludger at that," he continued. "But yeah--" Harry watched in appreciation as Dobby scampered around the kitchen, gathering objects left and right. "He's very nice."

----------

The walk back from the kitchens was quiet, neither Harry nor Luna speaking. Harry was certain that she wanted to speak, to ask him how he was, but he appreciated her ability to read him. To understand that, at the moment, he wanted to be alone with his own thoughts. His own voice in his head. For good or for bad.

He was still lost in his own thoughts as he pushed the door open to the room of requirement. Luna stepped in and Harry followed after as Hermione, who was sitting and talking with Ron, looked at them quizzically.

"What?" he asked as he and Luna placed the food and drinks on the lone table inside the room.

"You asked for something," Hermione replied vaguely, her eyes focused on the wall behind him.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her before glancing over his shoulder to see a bookcase, each shelf lined to capacity.

"That wasn't there until just now," she continued.

"You asked for books?" Ron asked, sounding as confused as Harry still felt.

"No," he replied, watching as Luna made her way to the bookcase.

She trailed a finger over a row of spines, her eyes scanning the titles as she went along. Her hand finally stopped on a book with a thick, dark green spine. She pulled it from the shelf, flipping through the pages. After a moment, Harry joined her, and she glanced up from the yellowed pages of the book.

"You asked for revenge," she said as her eyes met his.

Harry frowned. "No, I didn't ask for anything. I was just thinking--"

Thinking about the many ways in which I would love to kill Voldemort.

Harry frowned as Hermione and Ron also joined him at the bookcase.

Hermione scanned the shelves, reading all the titles aloud. "Dark Charms. Black Magicks for Advanced Wizards. Unforgivable Curses. Advanced Defensive Magic."

Hermione threw him a cautious look. "Whatever you're thinking, it's a horrible idea, Harry."

Harry's jaw tensed, his eyes focused on the many colored books in front of him. "Hermione, I'm not in the mood for a lecture right now."

"I'm not lecturing you, Harry," she replied, her voice annoyingly calm. "I'm simply saying that--"

Harry turned to her, snapping. "I don't care what you're saying, Hermione! Not right now."

"Hey," Ron chimed in angrily, a tone Harry wasn't used to hearing directed towards him. "We're all bloody pissed off right now, but there's no reason for us to turn on each other."

"Ronald's right," Luna said, sliding the book back into its spot. "We should eat our breakfast before it gets cold. Dobby worked very hard on it."

Luna walked away to begin to eat, soon followed by Hermione, and then Ron. Harry continued to linger alone in front of the bookcase for a moment, contemplating which book would be the one he'd need in order to finally destroy his worst enemy.

----------

"Would You-Know-Who really be thick enough to come into school and take her?" Ron asked.

The four friends had sat in silence for most of the morning and afternoon, each reading a book or two from the shelves. Only recently had they began to discuss the idea of Voldemort striking again, capturing another person to whom Harry was close. From there, they had begun to throw around theories on how Ginny had been seized in the first place.

"He's come into Hogwarts before," Hermione countered.

Harry frowned with a shake of his head, thinking back to previous years. "But that was when he was weak. Now that he's at full strength, it'd be too risky. I don't think he'd come that close to Dumbledore."

"Or you," Luna added from behind her book on Defensive Spells.

"So the question remains of how did he get Ginny?" Harry replied.

"Someone from the inside," Hermione offered. "Someone with ties to him. Allegiance."

At this, Ron jumped to his feet. "Malfoy!"

"Ron," Hermione sighed. "We have no proof that Malfoy is behind this."

"Harry proved his dad was a Death Eater," Ron continued, determined. "Dear ol' dad is one of You-Know-Who's most loyal followers, and I'm sure Malfoy would do anything to please his dad. Especially if it meant personally attacking us."

"And I don't doubt any of that, Ron," Hermione countered gently, "but that's not proof. That's—"

"Enough for me," Harry frowned, getting to his feet as well.

Luna looked up from her book as Hermione's eyes widened. "And what exactly do you plan to do? If he is behind it, Malfoy won't simply confess."

"I don't plan to question him."

"You can't just curse him."

"Who says we can't?" Ron asked.

"We should tell Dumbledore and let him handle this. I want revenge for Ginny as much as the both of you, but we need to go about it the right way."

"Right now, Hermione, this is the right way," Harry replied.

Ron nodded in agreement. "It's the only way."

Hermione turned to Luna. "Luna, please help me here."

Luna sighed and closed her book, dog-earing her page before doing so. "I do agree, Hermione, that Professor Dumbledore should be brought into the situation. But I also feel that if Draco Malfoy is involved, he deserves whatever Harry and Ron see fit." She looked at the boys. "Perhaps involve Professor Dumbledore after you handle Draco? A compromise between both plans."

"See," Ron said, motioning towards Luna. "Even Loony—" Off a look from Harry, he revised. "—Luna agrees."

Hermione looked at each of them before finally sighing, realizing that not only was she outnumbered but she wouldn't be able to talk Harry and Ron out of their grand plan. "Fine. When?"

Harry looked at his watch. "Dinner ends soon. We can catch him as he's headed back to the Slytherin common room."

"And Crabbe and Goyle?"

"They're not the brightest of students," Luna said, her gaze as she opened her book and returned her attention to its pages. "I'm sure they'll be easy enough to incapacitate."

----------

"We can still go to Dumbledore, you know," Hermione's whispered voice came from over his shoulder.

Harry simply shook his head as he and his friends lingered in the darkness of an offshoot of a corridor that Harry knew that the Slytherins used to head to their dungeon of a common room. He had yet to see Malfoy and his bodyguard goons make their way down the hall.

__

_Probably lingering behind to cause trouble_, Harry thought.

"You remember the plan, right?" he said, his eyes never leaving the corridor.

Luna was the one to answer. "Hermione and I petrify Crabbe and Goyle while you and Ron deal with Draco."

"And no, Hermione, I am not going to Dumbledore first," he said without turning to look at the girl, sensing that she was about to make her plea again.

If he had been looking in her direction, he would have noticed her mouth shut and a frown form on her lips as he spoke.

But at the moment, he was too focused on the three figures coming towards them. He nodded his head in the direction of the three Slytherins, and Harry felt two wands raise. One to his left and one to his right.

"Petrificus totalus!"

The girls' spells came in unison, Hermione's hitting Crabbe and Luna's leveling Goyle. Both boys froze on spot, toppling over, as a shocked Malfoy looked to his right and then to his left to see his two friends petrified.

Wands out, Harry and Ron stepped out into the corridor. Seeing them, Malfoy made a move for his own wand, but stopped short when he noticed the girls behind them with their own wands raised.

"What the hell is this, Potter?" he managed, his eyes darting from Ron to Harry. He took an instinctive step back, nearly tripping over Goyle in the process, as Harry and Ron advanced on him.

"Tell me what you know, Malfoy," Harry demanded.

Draco stood his ground as Harry and Ron finally stood directly before him. "What I know?" he replied, a slight sneer on his face. "What I know is that you, Weasel, and your little groupies there have gone mental."

"I know you had something to do with what happened to Ginny."

"I don't know what the bloody hell you're talking about, Potter, but whatever happened to the Weasley brat?" His sneer deepened, "That was her own doing."

Harry growled and braced himself to deliver a nasty curse in Malfoy's direction, but found it unnecessary as Ron punched the other boy fiercely in the face. Malfoy cried out, holding a hand to his nose, the second time this term that his mouth had gotten him a bloody nose. Harry glanced at Ron, shocked, and his best friend was grimacing and shaking his hand angrily.

"Don't ever talk about my sister," he replied through gritted teeth, still shaking his hand.

Harry turned to Malfoy with a smirk. "Still claim to know nothing?"

Malfoy wiped his nose with the back of his hand, blood still slowly trickling out his left nostril. "You think just because you're the big hero you can get away with this kind of crap?"

"At the moment, I don't care if I get a year's worth of detention. I don't care if I get expelled," Harry replied darkly. "I just want to know what you know."

"And if I don't feel like sharing?" Draco replied, sneering. "You won't do anything but run to your precious Dumbledore. You don't have the guts to do anything to me. Hero or not, you've always been all talk, Potter. "

Harry tilted his head. "You ever been on the receiving end of an Unforgivable Curse?"

Draco simply stared, his sneer falling a bit.

"Not fun. Quite painful actually. You wish for death."

"Harry," Hermione's voice said warningly from somewhere over his shoulder.

"You wouldn't," Draco replied with a shake of his head, the determination in his voice betrayed by the uncertainty in his eyes. "You can't."

"I can, and I would."

Draco stood tall. "You're full of it."

A slow smirk spread across Harry's face. "CRUCI--"

"NO!"

Draco quickly interrupted, raising his hands slightly as if that would have shielded him against the Cruciatus curse.

"I'm sorry?" Harry replied.

"I'll tell you what you want to know," Draco frowned.

"Harry, someone's coming!"

This time it was Luna's voice.

"Let them come," Harry replied, defiantly, his wand still on Malfoy.

"Potter!"

From behind him, Snape's bark bounced off the walls of the corridor, and Harry could hear him stomping his way over to him and Malfoy. Harry didn't lower his wand, even as he felt Snape lingering over his shoulder.

"May I ask what you think you're doing?" the man growled.

Never taking his eyes off Malfoy, Harry replied, "Finding out what Malfoy did to Ginny."

There was a moment where no one spoke, then Snape snatched the wand out of Harry's hand. Harry finally turned to look at the man, his own rage-filled eyes matched by his Professor's.

"I'm not sure what made you believe that this was acceptable behavior, Potter, but I beg to disagree," Snape replied gravely. "To Dumbledore's office immediately. All of you."

Draco sneered at Harry, chuckling under his breath.

"That includes you, Mister Malfoy," Snape replied, turning his gaze from Harry. "I believe Dumbledore would like a word or two with you as well."

Draco's face fell, and Harry couldn't stop the satisfied smirk that crept onto his own.

As he and his friends were marched to Dumbledore's office by a livid Snape, Harry didn't care what punishment befell him.

Cause now he was one step closer to finding out what happened to Ginny.

And paying back her murderer.

----------

"Harry, I must inform you that I'm not pleased with how you handled this situation."

Snape had delivered them all and described to Dumbledore the spectacle he had found. Then he had dismissed himself to go unpetrify Goyle and Crabbe who still laid in the corridor frozen in time. Once Snape had left, Dumbledore had turned to Luna and Hermione first for an explanation of what had happened, Harry figuring that Dumbledore felt that they would be the least bias of the five students in the room.

The girls had recollected the story as unbiased as they could given the circumstances. Harry found himself a little relieved that they both failed to mention his botched attempt at placing Malfoy under an unforgivable curse. Once hearing their story, he dismissed the girls, informing them that they had each lost 50 points for their house for cursing a fellow student.

At that point, Professor McGonagall had arrived, having been summoned after three of her students had found themselves in a situation. Dumbledore had had her escort Malfoy to Madam Pomfey for his bloody nose and advised her that she wanted to speak with the boy as soon as he finished attending to other matters.

The two "other matters" had simply looked at each other, each wondering what fate was about to befall them.

But Dumbledore had only told Ron that his parents were waiting for him. Waiting to take him home to spend a few days with the family, which Harry silently knew included Ginny's funeral. Ron had then been dismissed without a single point taken from Gryffindor on his behalf.

That had left Harry.

Who now sat in Dumbledore's office, slouched in his chair, arms folded angrily.

Dumbledore's voice came from somewhere over his shoulder, but Harry didn't care to turn and look at the Headmaster directly as he replied to the Headmaster's declaration of disappointment. "I'm sorry that we didn't come to you first with our suspicions, Professor, but you're lucky we brought Malfoy to you alive."

Dumbledore exhaled deeply, stepping over to his desk and taking a seat, his eyes trained on Harry. "What are you feeling right now, Harry?"

"One of my best friends is dead, Professor."

"This, I know, Harry," Dumbledore nodded. "And I asked you how you felt."

Harry's frown deepened. "How the bloody hell am I supposed to feel? Angry. Guilty. Lost."

"Good."

"Good?" Harry scoffed.

"Yes, because tonight, I feared that you had stopped feeling. Emotions are a very powerful thing as know, and they're what separate you from Voldemort."

"He feels emotion." His hand unconsciously reached up and touched his scar, which had taken to tingling almost every day after Voldemort's rise to power at the end of the last term.

"His feeling are solely power-driven. Driven by his need to rid the world of who he feels is impure. He feels a warped sense of joy, and like yourself, he feels anger at its most intense. But you also mentioned two other emotions that eased my concerns."

"Lost," he mumbled.

"And guilt," Dumbledore nodded. "Two emotions Voldemort would never allow himself to feel."

"So what?"

"So you have yet to stoop to his level."

Harry frowned at those choice of words.

__

_Yet_.

"Can I be excused, Professor?" he finally said, ready to be away from everything and everyone for a moment.

Dumbledore nodded. "50 points from you as well for tonight's behavior."

"Whatever," Harry mumbled as he got to his feet.

"Before you go, the Weasleys also request your presence this week."

Harry stopped in his tracks. "Why? They know I'm the reason Ginny's not here, right?"

"They know that Voldemort has struck close to home in hopes of breaking you, yes."

Harry frowned. "Which is just a fancy way of saying I killed her."

"No one here thinks you're responsible, Harry, and neither should you."

"Because you don't know!" Harry snapped. "Because you weren't there to get the messages. To see her just laying there. Ginny died because of me, and there's nothing you can say that will ever convince me otherwise."

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "I feel you should at least attend the funeral out of respect for your friend, for her family."

Harry simply nodded, the only commitment he could give at the moment as his stomach tied itself in nauseating knots.

"Get some rest, Harry. It's been a long few days for you."

Harry nodded again before turning and making his way out of Dumbledore's office.

A long few days was the understatement of the year in Harry's mind.


	8. Taking Over Me

Series Title: The Fallen Series

Chapter Title: Taking Over Me

Author: Tonya

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Harry deals with loss.  
----------

__

_"You saw me mourning my love for you_

_And touched my hand_

_I knew you loved me then"  
_

-- "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence  
-----------

He didn't know what he expected a wizard funeral to be like. There had been so many things in the past six years that he'd seen done much differently in the wizarding world than how they were done in the muggle world in which he grew up.

But as Harry stood amongst a sea of black robes, he realized this was one thing that wizarding and muggle worlds had in common.

Harry had taken part of his last conversation with Dumbledore to heart and had decided to stay at the Burrow with the Weasleys for the past few days. Upon seeing him, Mrs. Weasley had embraced him so tight that he was afraid he'd suffocate within the folds of her apron. Even Mr. Weasley had hugged him, something Ron's dad had never done before. But even with the warm greeting, Harry still couldn't shake the feeling that he didn't deserve to be there while they mourned their daughter. Didn't deserve the soft bed and warm meals they were providing him. Didn't deserve their affections.

Their undeterred affection for him did nothing but make him feel guiltier.

And that guilt had only increased exponentially as he stood among them now, his eyes fixed on the swaying branches of the willow under which Ginny was to be placed. To his left, he heard Hermione give a sniffle, and he glanced over at her in time to see Mrs. Weasley slip a shaky yet comforting arm around her.

Harry frowned deeply, lowering his head and focusing all his attention on the grass beneath his shoes.

It seemed his life was forming a predictable pattern.

Too young to remember what they looked like, too young to probably even form his first words, his parents had been ripped away from him. They had died protecting him because to Voldemort they were expendable, an obstacle to his power.

He had formed an unlikely alliance with Cedric in his fourth year to have that alliance end in the other boy's unexpected death. Cedric had died because he had been just as expendable as Harry's parents, a witness that shouldn't have been.

He had found the closest thing he had ever had to a father in Sirius, and as quickly as that relationship had begun, it had ended in darkness. Another expendable. Another death because of him, because of who he was.

And now Ginny. Murdered simply because she had the unfortunate luck of being friends with the Boy Who Lived.

Apparently, to be The Boy Who Lived, everyone around you must die.

Harry couldn't help but wonder who would be next, the thought having burned itself into his subconscious since the night he had carried Ginny's body back from Hogsmeade. Would it be Ron? Would Voldemort go for the heart of the group; the first real friend Harry had ever made? Hermione? His other link to sanity, even in dark times like these? Or would it even be Luna for that matter? The eccentric new member of their inner circle and whose friendship to which he had grown attached?

Everyone who knew him was marked. All of them were putting their lives on the line for him, whether consciously or not, and he had to put a stop to it.

Because he didn't have it in him to stumble across the body of another fallen friend. Didn't have it in him to stand at another funeral of someone he cared about simply because they had happened to associate with the Boy Who Lived. Didn't have it in him to mourn another death caused by something he could have prevented if only he had acted fast enough.

Given the choice, he would gladly sever all ties from everyone he knew than see another loved one dead at his hands.

His head still lowered, Harry exhaled deeply and shut his eyes, that last thought lingering behind his closed eyelids.

__

Given the choice.

He found himself pulled from his thoughts by a warm hand slipping into his own and giving it a gentle squeeze. Harry didn't even have to open his eyes to know that the comforting hand belonged to Luna, who had been standing silently just over his shoulder throughout the funeral. It took everything in him to give her hand a squeeze in return, to show that he appreciated the gesture.

__

_Given the choice, he would sever all ties_.

For the first time that he could remember, Harry had a choice, and as he gently removed his hand from Luna's, he made it.


	9. Hello

Series Title: The Fallen Series

Chapter Title: Hello

Author: Tonya

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Harry tries to sever ties with those around him.

A/N: Many thanks to all my reviewers. You guys never cease to not rock my socks. Thanks for sticking around for my muses wild trip to escape boredom. Two more chapters to go! Yay!

---------

__

_"If I smile and don't believe_

_Soon I know I'll wake from this dream_

_Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken"  
_

-- "Hello" by Evanescence  
---------

Harry sat by the edge of the lake, looking out over the water and lost in his thoughts.

It had been a week since he had returned to Hogwarts, a week since the funeral of the youngest Weasley. He had been spending a lot of days and evenings in this spot by the lake, avoiding everyone he possibly could. Even with sharing a tower with them, Harry had somehow managed to keep his interaction with Ron and Hermione to a minimal.

He purposefully stayed behind in the mornings while his roommates got dressed and ready for the day. The cover tightly over his head, he'd listen to the sounds of his friends gathering their things and preparing for the day ahead. None of them bothered him, knowing that when he was in a mood it was best to leave him alone. But Harry had heard Neville the other morning whisper a concern to Ron about his new choice in morning routine.

He didn't eat meals in the Great Hall anymore; he'd go down to the kitchens and sit with Dobby during meals. The house elf was more than glad to have the company, and being down there kept him away from the questioning looks of other students. And away from his friends.

The only time he saw them was in class. Neither knew or understood why he had taken to hiding, and Hermione had tried only once to call Harry on his reclusiveness. For her effort, he had simply told her he needed some air and had walked out of the common room, schoolbag in tow.

He hated being that way with her, with Ron, but he knew he had to for their own safety. He missed spending time with his friends, but he would miss them even more if they were murdered off by Voldemort or one of his henchmen.

This was a necessary evil.

In his search for seclusion, the lake had become his place to return to day after day and night after night. No one thought to look for him here. If they even thought to look for him….

"Harry?"

Harry turned quickly in his seat to see Luna approaching. The last time he had encountered her in this very spot, she had been gathering flowers for good luck. Today, however, she had no heather blossoms in her hands.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked.

She studied him for a moment, a hint of a frown on her lips. "Looking for you," she stated simply.

Harry finally turned from her with a frown of his own. "I'd tell you that I'd prefer to be alone, but you'd just sit down anyway."

For a moment, he waited for her to do just that, and when she didn't, he cautiously glanced back over his shoulder.

Luna continued to stand where she had stopped, watching him.

"What?" he finally said to her unnerving stare.

"You haven't been to the Great Hall," she said as if that answered his question.

"I know," he said, turning his gaze away from her again.

"And you've been avoiding everyone since we returned from the Burrow."

"Apparently not well enough," he muttered under his breath.

There was a moment of unsettling silence, which was followed by such an unfamiliar tone in Luna's voice that it made Harry almost prefer the silence.

"You know, Harry," she replied in the most stern voice he had ever heard her speak in, "there's no need to be nasty. I was simply worried about you."

He turned to her again, not pleased to be the one to elicit such a tone from someone as soft-spoken as Luna. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Luna frowned at him but nodded in acceptance of his apology. She exhaled deeply before finally stepping up beside him and sitting down, pulling her legs up under her body.

"Harry," she said, her voice returned to its normal airy tone, "you shouldn't continue to punish yourself for what happened to Ginny."

"I'm not punishing myself," he frowned deeply. "I'm protecting you and the others."

She studied him with a tilt of her head. "How so?"

Harry ran a hand through his unruly hair, watching as the sun began to set over the lake. "He wants to hurt me by going after those I'm close to so I'm taking it upon myself to remove you guys from the situation. I don't need someone else dying because of me."

"Your plan has a flaw, you realize."

He turned to her. "What's that?"

"He already knows who's close to you. He knows your friends. He knows your family. He knows everything about you." She paused, that same small frown forming on her lips again. "If he wants to hurt us, he will. Whether you stay around or not."

Harry frowned, thinking about that. "But at least this way I know I won't drag you into my battle. I don't want you guys to help me when there's trouble. I want you safe."

"Harry," she said, smiling sadly, "we're not safe. Do you think we're safe right now? Sitting here?"

He hesitated with a nod. "It's a false sense of safety."

"It is," she replied, returning the nod.

Harry sighed, turning away from her again. "I just-- I'm tired of people dying for me. I'm just tired." He swallowed hard to steady his voice, trying his best to fight back all the emotion wanting to escape from him. "Everyone makes some sort of sacrifice for me. My parents. Sirius. Ginny. And for what? For nothing. They all died for nothing."

"You're not nothing," Luna said quietly.

Harry simply gave a sad laugh in response, lowering his head and closing his eyes, trying to hold in the tears that had so desperately wanted to fall since the night they had found Ginny.

"You're not," she said again. "They all died protecting you in some way or another. That doesn't make their deaths for nothing."

Harry kept his head lowered and his eyes closed, the tears finally escaping from the corners of his eyes and trickling past the bridge of his nose.

"Don't make their deaths for nothing, Harry."

"I can't keep doing this," he finally said, his head still lowered. "I can't keep being this hero that everyone expects me to be."

"I don't expect you to be a hero. I expect you to be Harry."

"I don't know how to be just Harry anymore." He finally raised his head, looking towards her again.

Luna smiled sadly, reaching over and gently removing his glasses from his face. He watched her curiously as she removed a handkerchief from within her robes and carefully wiped his glasses, cleaning away smudges and tears. Once she was done, she laid the handkerchief in her lap before slipping the glasses back onto his face.

"First trick to being Harry?" she said as she placed the glasses back onto his face. "Don't abandon your friends when they need you, and you need them. It's not very wise."

"Second trick?"

"You must be rather adept at Quidditch, but that's neither here nor there at the moment."

Harry laughed quietly, Luna giving him a soft smile.

"Ginny was my best friend here," she stated with a slight nod of her head. "I know what the other students think of me, and I know she did as well, but she was always quite welcoming. And if I know Ginny, and I'd like to think I do, I know that she wouldn't want this for you. She wouldn't want you to blame yourself." She paused, studying him. "And I realize that saying that probably makes no difference because I've learned that you're quite the stubborn person when you put your mind to things, but I thought you should at least hear it from someone."

"I'm not stubborn," he muttered under his breath.

Luna nodded again. "As were the final words of the infamous Jacob Kinklewood."

"Who?"

Luna blinked at him, apparently shocked that the name meant nothing to him. "He was a very famous wizard. Kept experimenting with special charms he shouldn't have."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And what happened to him?"

"Turned himself into a bunny," she stated matter-a-factly. "He couldn't change himself back."

Harry simply stared at her, not sure whether to laugh or continue to sit dumbfounded.

"Rabbits aren't the best wand handlers," she stated seriously.

At that, he couldn't help but chuckle. The first semblance of a laugh in months.

Luna, however, blinked at him as if she had missed the joke. "It's the lack of thumbs."

Harry smiled at her before sighing deeply. "Thank you, Luna."

"What for?" she asked, unaware that she deserved thanks for anything.

"For making me realize I'm being an idiot."

"Well, I wouldn't call you an idiot."

"But you would call me stubborn," he replied with a slight smirk.

"Yes." She nodded. "So does this mean you're done avoiding your friends?"

Harry nodded. "I think so." He paused, his worries sinking back in again. "But if there's any sign of trouble--"

"There will be," she interrupted with a nod, "but when it comes, we'll take care of ourselves. We've become very efficient at it with your help."

"Luna," he sighed.

"If you prefer, you can retrain us. If that would put your mind at ease."

"Like the DA meetings?"

She nodded in response.

"Okay, I can do that, but only if you promise me that when everything starts to go wrong, you'll let me handle it. You won't help."

Luna frowned. "It's not very nice to make promises you can't keep, Harry."

"Luna, please."

"I'm sorry, but I can't," she replied with a shake of her head. "I can promise that I won't go looking for trouble, but I can't make you any promises other than that."

Harry smiled sadly at her. "I need friends who are less loyal." Luna returned the smile as Harry glanced down at his watch. "We should head back. It's getting late."

Harry stood, dusting himself off and offering his hand down to her. Luna looked at it for a moment before grabbing her handkerchief from her lap and slipping her free hand into his, allowing him to help her to her feet. He studied her as she brushed dust off her school robe and slipped the handkerchief back within its pocket.

"Can I ask you something?"

She looked up at him with those piercing silver eyes. "Yes, I suppose."

"How did you know where to find me?"

"At the beginning of the term, you came to this spot to be alone." She shrugged her shoulders a bit. "We're all creatures of habit, Harry."

She gave him that familiar wisp of a smile before reaching up and adjusting his glasses on his face. She gently brushed her thumbs under his eyes and across his cheeks, wiping away what tears that hadn't dried already.

"That's much better," she said with a tiny nod as her fingers trailed away. She glanced over at the lake, where the sun was making the final part of its descent from the sky. "We really should head back."

She turned to Harry with a smile and began to walk away.

He watched her for a moment, remaining in his spot by the lake. He couldn't figure out how she did it. The first time they had run into each other here, he had been shut off from the world, and he had welcomed the distance. Then she had appeared out of nowhere with her flowers and had seemed to make everything better with one simple conversation. And tonight, she had somehow managed to do it again.

Somehow, she had managed to get through to him, even when his defenses were up.

Somehow, she had managed to bring him comfort when he thought he didn't want or need it.

"Luna!" he called out, quickly running to catch up with her.

"Yes?" she said as she turned to him.

He wasn't quite sure why he did it, except for the voice in his head screaming at him to do so, but he did. He gently placed her face in his hands and kissed her. Luna froze for a moment, in what Harry could only imagine was the same sort of surprise he was feeling at the moment, but to his relief, she soon relaxed into the kiss.

Harry had only kissed one girl before, and that encounter with Cho had been somewhat pleasant if not overwhelming awkward, especially with the crying.

But this was different. This didn't feel awkward in any sense of the word. This felt… right.

Harry wasn't sure how long they stood there on the trail back to the castle kissing, but Luna was the first to pull away. She smiled up at him as his hands still lingered around her face.

"Those tricks to being Harry?" she replied. "I've added a third."

"What's that?" he replied with a quiet laugh.

"Finding a pleasant way to surprise me," she smiled.

He laughed again before leaning down and taking her lips to his again, suddenly quite content to remain out in the cooling night no matter what time they needed to be back.


	10. My Last Breath

Series Title: The Fallen Series

Chapter Title: My Last Breath

Author: Tonya

Rating: PG-13

Summary: The battle begins, and no one is safe.

A/N: For the record, writer's block is NOT fun. Thanks for all the feedback; it is always appreciated and loved by yours truly, and I'm sorry about the LONG break between chapters. I blame my muse taking an unexpected vacation to Tahiti without properly informing me.

----------  
"Holding my last breath

Safe inside myself

Are all my thoughts of you

Sweet raptured light

It ends here tonight"

-- "My Last Breath" by Evanescence

----------

Harry stared down at the list in his hands and exhaled deeply.

For over a month, schoolwork had been the furthest thing from his mind, and for the most part, the teachers had been accommodating to his situation. Even Snape, who Harry figured was being forced to be pleasant by the Headmaster. But now the accommodating nature was beginning to wear off, and Harry unfortunately found himself attempting to catch up on all the assignments he had been pushing aside for weeks.

And leave it to Hermione to create for him a list of said assignments separated by class, length of assignment, references needed, and due date. Not to mention color-coded.

Noting the reference book highlighted in bright yellow (meaning extremely important) for one of his five Transfiguration assignments, he turned into the necessary aisle of books. He was lost in his search when he heard a whispered conversation coming from the other side of the wall of dusty books.

"I hear they almost killed him."

His attention caught, Harry peered over the edge of the shelf nearest to the top. He couldn't make out the students across from him as they had their backs to him as they searched for their own books. He could, however, just barely make out the slight glint of yellow in their robes.

"Who'd you hear that from?" the second girl asked, incredulous.

"Ricky Belfield. Sixth year. He heard that Harry used the Cruciatus curse on Draco."

Harry frowned as heard the second girl make an audible gasp.

There had been many rumors circulating the past few weeks about what had happened to Draco Malfoy. After their hallway encounter, Harry hadn't seen the Slytherin return. The last time he had seen the other boy had been in Dumbledore's chambers, as the Headmaster informed McGonagall to take him to the hospital wing and stay with him until he handled Harry and Ron.

In all honesty, Harry hadn't given Malfoy a second thought since that night. He probably could have asked Dumbledore what had happened, but he simply didn't care. He could only hope that somehow, somewhere, Malfoy was experiencing the most painful, bloody punishment of his life.

Too busy eavesdropping, Harry nearly knocked the books off the shelf when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Luna watching him with a curious expression. He placed a finger to his lips and nodded towards the other side of the shelves. She studied him a moment longer before stepping up to him and sliding slightly in front of him to get a better view. She carefully stood on her tiptoes to peer over the edge of the books, Harry placing a balancing hand at the small of her back.

"Ricky heard that afterwards they turned him into a toad," the first girl continued.

"A toad?"

The first girl nodded her blonde head. "Harry keeps him in a box and practices his unforgivable curses on him."

Luna glanced at Harry, and he simply rolled his eyes.

"Why a toad?"

"Who would suspect a student of wrong-doing if they had a pet toad?" the first girl shrugged.

At this, Luna snorted quietly. As the girls turned to the sound, Harry quickly pulled Luna down with him until they were kneeling on the floor, out of sight. Harry tried not to laugh himself as she placed a hand over her mouth to keep herself from snorting again. They kneeled silently across from each other for what felt like an eternity before the two gossiping Hufflepuff girls decided to move their conversation to a different aisle.

Once alone, Luna finally dropped her hands with a laugh. "A toad, Harry?"

He shrugged with a smirk. "I thought about turning him into a snake."

She returned the look of amusement. "That wouldn't be very practical, Harry. Keeping a former Slytherin as a pet snake."

"Which is why I went with a toad," he replied seriously.

Luna laughed again, returning her hand to her mouth to quiet herself. Harry watched her with an amused smile before speaking again. "How'd you find me?"

She dropped her hand away from her face, smiling warmly. "I was working on a horrific Potions assignment when I saw Ron and Hermione. She mentioned you searching for references for an assignment so I decided to take a break from my studies and help you." She nodded softly. "The library stacks can become a bit overwhelming at times."

"Not with Hermione's special color-coded chart," he replied with a laugh as he waved the paper in his hands.

"Perhaps we should put her chart to use then."

"Perhaps."

Harry nodded and stood, offering her his hand. He gently took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She thanked him like she always did, and he leaned over and kissed her softly, his hand wrapping gently around the nape of her neck.

If anyone would have told him a year ago that he would be willingly snogging Luna Lovegood (and not Cho Chang for that matter) in the library, he would have thought they were mental. But yet, here he was, and for the past few weeks, his best moments had been in her presence. Sure, she had a tendency to be odd and eccentric, but that was what made her her. Her personality was a welcomed change in his world.

The sound of a throat clearing pulled Harry from the moment. He and Luna froze mid-kiss, and he slowly pulled away from her, his hand still lingering around her neck.

Madam Pince, a small stack of books in her arms, watched them with a raised eyebrow.

"Mister Potter," she said, "may I ask what you and Miss Lovegood are doing?"

Harry cleared his throat quietly as Luna, her back still Madam Pince, lowered her head with a quiet laugh only he could hear. With his free hand, he quickly grabbed a random book from the shelf beside them.

"Just getting a book we need," he said with the most innocent smile he could muster. "And we'll be on our way now."

He grabbed Luna's hand with his free one and pulled her down the aisle and past Madam Pince, who continued to eye them like a hawk. Luna managed a "have a good evening" to the librarian before disappearing around the corner with Harry.

"New rule," Harry laughed as they made their way over to Hermione and Ron's table, still hand-in-hand, "no kissing in the library."

"A sensible rule it seems," she agreed with a quiet laugh of her own.

Harry smiled over at her as they took their seats across from Hermione and Ron.

---------

Harry sat alone in the room of requirement, surrounded by books he had pulled from the shelves that continued to line the room. He flipped through a book on defensive spells, jotting down random information about ones he crossed that could benefit him and his friends.

When Luna had first suggested that Harry retrain his friends, he had been hesitant to say the least. Training meant that he was preparing them for battle, preparing to put them in harm's way again. But training also meant they would be better able to defend themselves against another attack, able to prevent another incident like what had happened to Ginny.

He couldn't let that happen again.

Harry didn't look up when the door opened; he simply kept writing.

"You realize that if you approached your studies in a similar fashion, your grades would improve exponentially, correct?"

Hermione and Ron joined Harry in the middle of the floor, Hermione picking up one of the books as she and Ron got settled. Harry looked up to acknowledge them with a "hey" before returning to his work.

"So when are we starting?" Ron asked, glancing over Hermione's shoulder to see what she was reading.

"As soon as Luna gets here," Harry replied.

"So you and Luna are really…?"

At this, Harry finally looked up with a curious raise of an eyebrow. "Luna and I are really what?"

"You know," Ron fumbled, his ears growing a shade of red Harry hadn't seen in a long time, "with the snogging and stuff?"

Hermione rolled her eyes in Ron's direction before flipping to a new page in her book. "I believe what Ron is so delicately trying to ask is whether or not you and Luna are a couple."

Harry blinked at them. It had been a few weeks since his and Luna's encounter by the lake, and though he had been spending more time alone with her, he never figured that Ron and Hermione had been paying much attention. Not enough attention to tell that their dynamic had changed, but apparently, he had underestimated his two best friends.

"Um, yeah, I guess we are," Harry finally replied when he found his voice.

"Well, I think it's nice," Hermione spoke up as Ron tried to find the right words. She nodded and continued to flip through her book as she spoke. "She's a bit eccentric, and I still don't believe half of those creatures she talks about exist, but she's very nice. Much better than Cho if I must say."

"At least she doesn't cry as much as Cho, right?" Ron chimed in with an amused smile.

"No," Harry said, laughing quietly.

Harry was relieved upon hearing their reactions to him dating Luna. He knew that they each had had their reservations about the girl and her oddities since they had first met her; even Harry had to admit that he had had a few. But during the last few months, Luna had become an integral member of their circle, and when Harry hadn't been paying attention, she had won over his two best friends.

As if on cue, the door to the Room of Requirement opened and Luna entered with a smile, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder.

"Evening, everyone," she said as she joined them on the floor.

"Hey, Luna," Harry replied as Ron and Hermione offered their own hellos, Hermione finally closing her book. Once everyone was settled, Harry spoke again. "Okay, so for tonight I was thinking we could--"

Hermione raised her hand.

Ron rolled his eyes at her. "We're not in class, Hermione."

"Yes, I know," she shot back in a dignified voice. "I just had a question, and since Harry is in fact in charge of these lessons, I felt it would only be polite."

Harry smirked. "Go ahead, Hermione."

"Thank you." She lowered her hand and cleared her throat. "Harry, have you thought about opening this up to other students? I'm sure the others would be more than thrilled to start having official DA meetings again."

"No," Harry replied with a determined shake of his head.

"But, Harry, I really do think these lessons could be an asset to everyone," she continued adamantly. "To learn how to fight Voldemort when the time does come."

"I'm not teaching you to fight," he declared. "I'm teaching you how to defend yourself."

"Which is one in the same, Harry."

"The answer's still no."

"But--" she began again.

"Hermione," Ron interrupted quietly, "drop it."

Hermione glanced at him and then back at Harry, giving up with a quiet sigh.

"Okay," Harry said as soon as he felt they were all in silent agreement about the end of that discussion. "So I was thinking tonight we started with something different." He stood and made his way to the bookcase, pulling three similar books from the corner of the middle shelf. He returned to his friends and handed each of them a book.

Ron stared at the cover of the book for a moment before looking back up at Harry, who remained standing, with wide eyes. "Harry, mate, we-- you're not suggesting we--" He stammered over his words.

"Learn to use Unforgivables?" Harry finished for his red-headed friend. "Yeah, I do."

"But, Harry," Hermione said in a quiet voice, "these--these are…." She trailed off.

"I believe the word Hermione is looking for is deadly," Luna finished with a slight frown.

"That's the point of them," Harry replied darkly. He looked at each of his friends. "What sort of curses do you think Death Eaters are going to use on you?"

"You're not honestly suggesting that we practice these, do you?" Hermione gaped. "Because that's--"

"Completely mental!" Ron finished.

Harry rolled his eyes in response, more amused than annoyed. "Do you actually think I'd want you lot to practice these on each other?" He sighed before continuing. "We've already learned about them once, but we need to learn about them again. This isn't about the actual curse-casting itself. This is about knowing each curse inside and out and using the right one for the situation presented to you."

"You're assigning reading?!" Ron replied with a disgusted face. "Now I _know_ you've gone mental."

"You want to be prepared, right? Well, to be prepared, you need to know the curses better than they know them." He frowned deeply. "Believe me, you'd rather be throwing the curse than being on the receiving end of it."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to quiz us, are you?"

"If I have to," he replied seriously.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered under his breath as Hermione decided to speak again.

"Harry, I'm just not sure about this whole Unforgivable thing," she replied with a frown.

"Which is why I'm making you read up on them," he replied, not backing down.

Luna, who had begun flipping through her book, looked up finally. "These curses are quite serious, Harry."

"I know they are, which is why I want you guys prepared." His eyes turned from hers as he looked at each of his friends. "Look, guys, Death Eaters aren't going to hit you with Bat-Bogey or Jelly-leg hexes. Their goal is either to kill you or torture you a bit before they kill you. In the end? Those three curses are going to be what you need to know."

Luna, Ron, and Hermione remained silent.

"Okay so if there aren't any other questions about my lesson plan or my sanity, let's get reading."

---------

Two hours and, to Ron's utter dismay and horror, one quiz later, the Room of Requirement was empty with the exception of Harry and Luna, who stayed behind to help him reshelve books the group had used throughout the night.

"You've been awfully quiet tonight," Harry said as he watched her study the cover of a book before gently placing it back into its spot on the shelf.

"Yes, I suppose I have," she said, glancing over her shoulder at him with a sad smile.

"You alright?" he asked, a wave of concern washing over him.

She nodded and reshelved another book, but then as quickly as she made her affirmative response, she turned to face him. "Actually, no. I'm not."

Harry studied her with a frown. "What is it?"

"I'm not quite sure I'll be able to deliver an Unforgivable when the time comes."

"Luna," he said, stepping up to her, "you're a natural when it comes to your wand."

"That's not it," she replied, her lips curling into a frown. "I'm not afraid that I can't cast it. I'm quite afraid that I won't."

Harry returned the frown. "You don't think you have it in you," he understood.

She simply nodded.

"Luna," he sighed, placing a hand gently on the side of her face, "I don't want you to be in the position to ever have to use any of these, but if you are? You have to believe in using it, or it won't work. I know."

Luna studied him with those silver eyes of hers for a moment before finally speaking. "You've used an Unforgivable?"

"I tried," he replied darkly, his hand slowly dropping from her face. "It didn't work. I didn't have it in me either."

Luna gave a quiet, shocked laugh. "And you honestly believe I'll be able to if you couldn't? Harry, you're an extraordinary wizard beyond your years. My skills are nothing compared to yours."

"But I know you can do it. You just have to be in the proper mindset."

Luna frowned again. "And how do I do that?"

Harry thought about that for a moment before giving her a tentative nod. "Tomorrow, we'll try something," he said.

She blinked at him. "I thought we weren't meeting tomorrow."

"We're not. This is a private lesson."

"A private lesson for what?" she asked, obviously a bit confused.

Harry took her by the hand and led her out of the room. "I'll show you tomorrow," he said, giving her a reassuring smile.

----------

Luna was patiently waiting in the Room of Requirement the next evening when Harry entered, carrying in his arms what seemed to be a package covered by a cloth. She watched him curiously as he placed the covered object on top of the lone desk in the room.

"May I ask what that is?" she asked, reaching a hand out to lift the cloth and peek underneath.

His seeker skills kicking into gear, he reached out and took a quick yet gentle hold of her wrist. "This is today's lesson," he replied.

"Harry," she frowned, "I'm very confused."

He released her wrist, placing his hands on the object on the desk. "You're afraid that you won't be able to cast an Unforgivable cause it requires a certain amount of darkness. So I want you to practice."

Her frown only deepened. "Harry, I don't think it's wise for me to be practicing Unforgivables on you."

"You're not practicing on me," he stated simply.

She blinked at him in response.

Harry pulled the cloth off the item, revealing underneath a small cage. Inside, a plump gray mouse scampered from corner to corner, its whiskers twitching nervously, as if it had a slight idea of what was to come. Luna knelt slowly until her eyes were level with the mouse inside the metal cage. She watched it pace back and forth before throwing a cautious glance up at Harry.

"Where did you get him?"

"I didn't. Dobby did. Saved him from becoming a meal for Mrs. Norris," he replied. "Believe me, this is the better of the two for this fellow."

Luna's gaze focused back on the mouse. "I can't curse a mouse, Harry," she said in a slightly disgusted voice.

Harry knelt down to her level, his gaze trained on the mouse as well. "You need to practice, Luna. Better a mouse than you."

She glanced over at him. "But he's defenseless!" she replied. "That seems very unfair."

"War's not fair," he replied simply, his eyes still on the mouse. When Luna didn't reply, he turned his gaze to her finally. She stared at him incredulously. "What? Would you prefer he had a wand?"

"Harry, this is not a joke," she replied in a stern tone. "I can't do this." With that, she stood and began to make her way to the door.

"Luna!" Harry called out, stunned.

She stopped and turned back to him. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't curse a poor creature just to make sure I'm properly trained. It's cruel and pointless." She pursed her lips angrily. "And I am quite stunned that you would even suggest such a thing to begin with."

"Luna," he said quietly as he stepped up to her, "I just-- I just wanted you to be able to practice, and I didn't know how else to go about it."

"Well," she replied, folding her arms, "if my practice requires poor defenseless mice then I'd prefer not to practice if that's perfectly alright with you."

"Luna, you need to practice. You can't be uncertain about these things. When you give the curse, you have to mean it."

Luna shook her head. "I know, Harry, but I can't do it this way. Not to that poor mouse."

"Then use me," he said after a moment.

Luna shook her head fiercely. "No!"

"Look, don't worry about me. I'll be able to handle it."

"Harry," she replied, shocked that they were even having this conversation. "I am not using an Unforgivable on you. I quite honestly refuse to do such a thing."

"Luna," he frowned, "I need to know you'll be able to do it when the time comes."

She shook her head fiercely again, her long hair flying about.

"Luna--"

"No!" she protested again, her voice cracking as she was on the verge of frustrated tears. "Why does it matter so much that I practice, that you're sure?! You didn't ask Hermione or Ronald to curse mice or you, for that matter!"

"Because they're not who I'm afraid to lose!" he yelled back.

In that moment, all the yelling in the room came to a standstill. The only sound came from the mouse who continued to pace his cage, searching for some sort of exit.

When Luna spoke this time, her voice had returned to a more normal, Luna level of volume. "What?" she asked quietly.

Harry shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "I'm afraid of losing all of you. Afraid that all of you will get hurt or killed. But--" He shifted his weight again on his feet. "But I wouldn't be able to handle losing you."

Luna stared silently at him for what felt like an eternity. When she finally found her voice, all she could utter was a stunned, "Oh."

Harry nodded slowly before turning and heading back towards the desk. "You're right actually," he said as he draped the cloth back over the mouse's cage. "This isn't a good idea. A stupid one, really."

"No, Harry, it's not," Luna replied, making her way over to him. "It's a good idea, but it's just not you."

Harry chuckled bitterly, running his fingers over the cloth and not meeting Luna's eyes. "Being me isn't exactly working to my benefit here." He looked up at her. "If I don't start doing things like they do, I'll find myself standing at a few more funerals. The Harry Potter way of doing things is going to get everyone I know killed."

Luna frowned, tilting her head at him. "The Harry Potter way of doing things is the main thing that keeps you from becoming him. It hasn't gotten any of us killed, if anything, it's kept us all alive this long."

"Except Ginny," he mumbled, dropping his gaze from hers.

"Ginny died a fighter because of you."

Harry remained silent in response.

"Now, I won't be practicing my Unforgivables on anyone or anything," Luna began, and Harry finally looked up, "but I can promise you that when the time comes, I will put everything I have behind my words." She shrugged her shoulders gently. "That will just have to be enough for you."

Harry watched her for a moment before nodding. He gathered up the covered cage with a quiet sigh. "I better go release him somewhere Mrs. Norris can't find him."

"Perhaps Dobby would like a pet?" Luna suggested.

Harry smiled, the image of Dobby attempting to take care of a pet mouse entering his mind. "Perhaps." He shifted the weight of the cage in his hands. "I'll see you tomorrow, Luna."

She nodded and smiled warmly at him before leaning over and kissing him softly on the lips. She pulled away, her lips still forming that familiar smile. "Thank you by the way."

He blinked at her, confused. "For what?"

"For caring." With that, she gently tapped the cage in his hands and waved goodbye. "Night, Harry."

"Night," he smiled as he watched her walk out of the room, adjusting her wand behind her ear as she strolled away.

----------

"Have you thought about it anymore, Harry?"

"Hermione, will you leave him alone about it?"

Harry sighed at his friends as they made their way into the Great Hall for dinner. It had been two weeks since they had started their special training, and though Harry had to admit that they had all been catching on far better than he had expected, he still found himself hesitant to extend the invitation to other students. He had only agreed to train Ron, Hermione, and Luna because they were the closest to him; they were the weakness that Voldemort would not hesitate to use against him. Training them was a necessary evil. An evil that he didn't want to inflict on the rest of the school.

"The answer's still no, Hermione," Harry finally replied as they all took their seats at the Gryffindor table.

"Honestly, Harry, what harm could come from it?" she said quietly from her seat across him, trying not to draw attention to their conversation.

"You keep it up, and he's gonna quiz us again," Ron warned her as he piled food onto his plate.

Hermione ignored him. "Really, Harry, we've done it once before."

"This time is different," he replied simply

Hermione frowned and gave up for the moment, deciding to fill her plate before Ron ate everything she wanted. Harry held in a sigh of relief that he was able to get her to drop the subject, if only for an hour while they ate in the Great Hall. He listened to Ron and Hermione bicker over the importance of Quidditch practice versus the importance of a Potions essay due the same afternoon, but he would never find out who would be the victor of the debate as a distinct screech filled the air.

The large eagle owl seemed to come from nowhere as it swooped down into the Great Hall, gliding just above the Gryffindor table. The bird circled once before making its final descent, landing gracefully amongst the plates and goblets. The students watched as it hopped its way over to Harry and then proceeded to thrust out its leg. Harry glanced at the bird and then to the message attached to its leg, reaching out with a reluctant hand to remove the rolled up piece of parchment. Once untied, the eagle owl spread its wings and with a hard beat of his wings took off, disappearing into the night.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked as he unrolled the note and began to read.

"Harry?" Ron asked when he didn't respond.

Harry looked up at them, folding the letter and slipping it inside his robes. "It's nothing," he said, his face expressionless.

Hermione gave him a cautious look. "Harry…."

With that, Harry quickly stood. "I'm going back to the common room," he insisted before making his way from the table and out of the Great Hall.

Ron turned to Hermione with a frown. "What do you think it was?"

Hermione's gaze was fixed towards the doorway through which Harry had made his abrupt exit. "It could be another message."

"But the first one came by raven."

Hermione finally tore her eyes from the door to respond as Luna made her way over to the table to join them. "What's going on?" the blonde asked simply.

"That's a good question," Hermione frowned.

"And Harry?"

"He went to the common room," Ron replied.

Luna frowned at that and shared a look across the table with Hermione. As if reading her mind, Hermione stood. "We should probably go make sure of that."

----------

Harry ran through the halls as fast as he could (ignoring the yells from portraits to slow down and Peeves and his taunts of "Potter Potter, you have to Potty?"). He panted the password to the Fat Lady, who gave him a concerned look, before allowing him inside the tower.

Harry dashed through the common room and up the stairs to his room. He needed to act fast before the others came looking for him which he knew that they would. He pulled the note from inside robes, opening it, and glaring down at it.

****

Forbidden Forest.

Two simple words scrawled in the familiar black handwriting he had come to loathe.

This was it.

Slipping the note back inside his robes, he quickly pulled open his trunk. He rummaged through his belongings for a moment before pulling out his Marauder's Map. He debated for a moment before hastily slipping out of his school robes and tossing them onto his bed. The less he carried on him, the better. His wand slipped into his pocket, Harry made his way quickly out of the room and tower.

----------

Ron, Hermione, and Luna quickly made their way to the Gryffindor tower; none of them aware that they had just missed Harry and his exit.

"I'll check and see if he's upstairs," Ron said as the three of them stood in an empty, Harryless common room.

"It had to be Voldemort," Hermione mused aloud as she and Luna stood alone in the common room. "Who else would send him a note in the middle of the night?"

"If it was Voldemort, which I'm very sure it probably was," Luna replied with a frown, "then you realize Harry is more than likely gone."

"Hogsmeade, you think?"

Luna shook her head. "I'm sure after Ginny's death, he wouldn't stay. People would be looking for him there. Perhaps we should speak with the Headmaster?"

"And in the meantime, Merlin only knows where Harry has gone off to…."

"I do," Ron said as he returned from the boys' dormitories. He held up the slip of paper he had found in Harry's discarded robes. "He's going into the forest."

Hermione blinked at him. "The Forbidden Forest? Are you sure?" She snatched the note from his hands to see for herself. She looked up with wide eyes. "He's going to get himself killed."

"No, he won't," Luna stated matter-a-factly.

Hermione and Ron both gave her an incredulous look.

"Because we're going to help him," she continued and started out of the common room, Hermione and Ron hesitating for only a moment before quickly following after her.

----------

Hermione didn't fear many things.

Failing marks on her assignments, giants that referred to her as Hermy, flying. But there was something about the forbidden forest, something that made her flesh crawl, leaving trails of goosebumps up her arms. And as she stood flanked on each side by Ron and Luna, she felt that familiar fear in the pit of her stomach.

"We stick together," Ron said, his voice wavering a bit, much like the butterflies that flittered about in Hermione's stomach.

"If we get separated, send up a red sparks with your wand," she instructed.

"I don't know if that's really a good idea, Hermione," Luna spoke up. Hermione turned to the girl with a bewildered look, and the blonde continued before Hermione could even form a proper protest. "We don't know who, or what for that matter, is in the forest. For all we know, a signal of that sort could alert others to where we are."

"I never thought I'd say this," Ron replied, "but Luna has a point."

"Well, do either of you have any other suggestions?"

Neither Ron nor Luna replied.

"Then the plan stands as is," she replied. "If you get lost, send up sparks." She swallowed hard as her gaze turned back to the dark line of trees in front of them.

"Then come on," Ron ordered, a firm grasp on his wand, "we have to find Harry."

Hermione shared a glance with Luna, who looked as calm and collected as she ever did, before they both started after Ron.

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The three followed the trail until there was no trail to follow, three separate wands lighting their way through the darkness. Ron stopped suddenly, forcing Hermione and Luna to collide into him with "oomphs". He turned to them with a sheepish look. "Sorry," he said in a hushed tone.

"Why did you stop?" Hermione asked in her own quiet voice.

"This forest is huge," Ron replied as if the realization had just hit him. "Where do we even begin?"

"A clearing," Luna stated. "Voldemort wouldn't challenge Harry somewhere like this." She motioned to the trees that surrounded them. "Too many obstacles."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "We'll head towards a clearing."

Ron frowned a bit, spreading his arms out. "Which is in what direction exactly?"

Hermione pointed her wand over his shoulder, in the direction they had been heading. "Eventually it has to clear out."

"The forest is no place for children at night."

The trio froze, each looking at the other, and each wore the same expression of fear, even Luna. They each turned in opposite directions, their shoulders bumping, as they held out their wands, illuminating the darkness around them.

"Come to help, Potter, I take it," the disembodied voice drawled.

"Where the bloody hell are they?" Ron whispered harshly.

In response, Hermione shushed him, closing her eyes and trying to pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from. Unfortunately, in the vastness of the forest, it sounded as if the voice completely surrounded them.

"Brave bunch," the voice continued. "Too bad you won't live to see another brave adventure."

Hermione felt a chill slip down her spine as her eyes shot open, and she said the only thing that came to her mind. "Run."

And they did.

It wasn't until Hermione looked over her shoulder to make sure the others were close behind that she realized they were, in fact, not. They had all run, but in the dark, they had all taken off in opposite directions.

"Bloody hell!" she panted, allowing herself this one moment to be remotely vulgar.

Her attention still focused over her shoulder, Hermione didn't notice the figure in front of her until she plowed into them. She lost her balance with a yelp, falling backwards and hitting the ground hard. A groan escaped her lips as the back of her head collided with the solid soil of the forest floor, and for a moment, the stars that peeked through the treetops swirled in front of her eyes. She closed her eyes, trying to stop the world from spinning, and when she opened them, all she saw was the end of the wand pointed at her.

"Crucio!"

Hermione had never felt a pain so intense in her life. Her body felt as if it were on fire, the pain traveling through every single nerve in her body. She heard screams, and it took a moment for her to realize they were her own. Her eyes squeezed tightly together, she willed for the pain to end, and somewhere in the fogginess of her mind, she wondered if this was what it felt like for Harry. The screams turned to whimpers, and she heard a voice that sounded far-off to her ringing ears. And as soon as she heard the familiar voice, the pain began to subside.

Hermione heard footsteps approaching and could feel someone's hand gently touch her shoulder.

"Hermione?"

Luna. She recognized that voice, and somewhere in the pain that still coursed through her body, she felt a strong sense of relief.

She opened her eyes, trying to focus on the fuzzy image of the girl leaning over her. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a squeaked attempt at words formed. The fuzzy image of Luna shook her head.

"It's alright, Hermione. You don't have to speak. You're okay now."

Hermione blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision more, but that only helped to make her feel more lightheaded. As she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, something about the fuzzy images surrounding her shifted. She opened her mouth to try and warn Luna that someone was coming up behind her, but her voice refused to work with her. The last thing Hermione saw before she slipped away was the wand raised in Luna's direction.

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Harry stopped in his tracks.

He thought he had heard screams. Screams with a chilling familiarity to them. But now he was surrounded by silence again, and he was beginning to think that his nerves, combined with the darkness of the forest, was starting to play games with his mind.

"Get a hold of yourself, Harry," he muttered as he unfolded his map, hoping to get a glance of Voldemort's location. What he had not expected to see were three familiar names staring back at him from the parchment. Luna and Hermione's names laid side by side on the map while Ron's headed in their direction, in what Harry imagined was a fast pace.

The familiarity of the screams he had thought he had heard earlier hit him. Hard.

Suddenly forgetting about his original mission, Harry took off running towards his friends.

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Hermione awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright. Her head continued to pound as she glanced down beside her, and the pounding only intensified at the sight. Laying beside her, on her side, her blonde hair fanned across her face, was Luna.

"Luna?"

Hermione turned and knelt in the dirt next to the girl, reaching out and touching Luna's shoulder, her heart pounding in her chest.

Merlin, don't let her be dead.

"Luna?"

She gave Luna a gentle shake, pushing the blonde tresses out of the girl's pale face. Hermione placed shaky fingers against Luna's cool throat, feeling for a pulse. She held her breath, her lungs burning and screaming for oxygen, until she felt the faint beat of her heart. It wasn't as strong a pulse as Hermione would have been comfortable with, but it was something.

"Thank Merlin," she sighed.

Hermione reached for her fallen wand and aimed it at the sky. She knew that it would be risky to send up a signal in a forest apparently full of Death Eaters, but she had no choice. Without Ron, there was no way she was getting Luna out of here, and Hermione wasn't sure how long the girl could go without medical attention of any sort.

She opened her mouth to utter the spell, but stopped short when Ron came crashing through the trees towards them.

"Ron!" she cried in relief, lowering her wand.

"I heard screams," he panted as he jogged over to them. "I--" His gaze fell on Luna, an he studied her with wide eyes before turning to Hermione. "Is she…?"

Hermione shook her head, gazing down at Luna and touching her arm. "She's unconscious. But we need to get her back to school." She looked up, the fear evident in her eyes. "I don't know what they used on her. If we don't get her to Madam Pomfrey…." She trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of more footsteps quickly coming in their direction grabbed his attention. Both he and Hermione turned to the noise, wands drawn and ready to curse whoever was coming up on them.

"Guys?"

They heard Harry's voice before they saw him. He finally emerged from the trees, his map clutched in one hand and his wand in the other.

"Harry!" Ron said, lowering his wand. "Merlin, I thought we were being attacked again."

"Attacked?" Harry asked.

"Death Eaters," Ron replied with a nod as Hermione got to her feet.

Hermione made a move to explain what had happened, but by then, Harry had already caught a glimpse of the fallen figure behind her and Ron. He quickly forced himself by them, kneeling down next to Luna, his wand and map falling to the ground beside him. With a tentative hand, he reached out to touch Luna's face.

"She's not--she's unconscious," Hermione amended with a deep frown. "I was attacked. She came to help me, and she was attacked as well."

Hermione watched as Harry brushed away a stray strand of hair from Luna's face with a shaky hand. For a moment, she wondered if he had even heard a word she had said. Then she watched the muscles in his jaw clench, and she knew nothing she said would matter to him.

"He's going to pay," Harry said in a darker tone than Hermione had ever heard come from her best friend.

"Harry…" she began, though she wasn't sure how exactly to finish that thought.

He stood, reaching down for his wand and map, his eyes never leaving Luna's form. "Tonight it ends." He looked up at them with a nod. "Go back now. Take her to the hospital wing."

"What about you, mate?" Ron asked.

"I want you guys gone," Harry replied as he moved past them, going back the way from which he had come.

"But Harry," Hermione said to his retreating back, but it was too late by the time she had finished getting his name out. He had already disappeared into the dark, and Hermione wondered if that would be the last time she would ever lay eyes on her friend.


End file.
